After decades, Brazil and the U.S. sign agreement on space station

Among the investors’ community, there was some hope that Jair Bolsonaro’s trip to Washington next week would see the confirmation of a free-trade agreement between Brazil and Donald Trump’s U.S. The way things stand, this looks highly unlikely, yet discussions between the two heads of state are set to concern another important deal—one which has been decades in the making.

The two countries have accepted terms of a technology safeguards agreement (TSA), which seeks to facilitate the launching of American satellites on Brazilian soil—in particular, from the Alcântara Launch Center in northeastern Brazil.

The deal protects U.S. intellectual property, finally allowing American technology to be used in launches from the Alcântara base. This caused problems in the past as nearly every satellite launch uses some form of equipment or process belonging to the U.S.

The Brazilian Air Force’s intention is to open up the Alcântara Launch Center for commercial use, allowing it to...