Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates airlines, successfully flew a cargo charter flight to transport a 22-tonne shipment carrying parts of a Brazilian satellite from Sao Jose dos Campos in Brazil to Chennai in India.

Amazonia-1, developed by an all-Brazilian team from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), took eight years to build and will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in February 2021 to provide remote sensing images to help monitor the Amazon.

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Emirates said this was the first time for the carrier to transport such shipment from South America for which they had to apply for special permission to operate a Boeing 777 freighter from Sao Jose dos Campos airport.

The airline carried two simulations with INPE prior to flying the satellite, and the 22-tonne cargo was was disassembled and packed inside containers. Four members from INPE travelled along with the cargo onboard the flight from Sao Jose dos Campos to Dubai and then to Chennai.

This is not the first time Emirates SkyCargo transported satellites and other cargo developed for space technology. In 2018, it carried KhalifaSat, considered the first truly Emirati-made satellite at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, from Dubai to Seoul.

In Brazil, Emirates SkyCargo flies regularly into airports in São Paulo and the Viracopos airport in Campinas.