Mexico's Space Program
Space agency/agencies
Mexican Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Mexicana or AEM; founded in 2010 and commenced operations in 2013) (2025)
Space program overview
possesses a national space policy aimed at enhancing Mexico's commercial space industry, which includes satellite acquisition and the development of specialists, technologies, and infrastructure; produces and manages communications and scientific satellites; engages in research across a variety of space-related fields and technologies such as astronomy, astrophysics, Earth sciences, weather sciences, remote sensing, robotics, satellite payloads, and telecommunications; collaborates with multiple international space agencies and commercial space sectors, including those from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the European Space Agency (ESA), various ESA member nations (notably France, Germany, and the UK), India, Japan, Peru, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States; spearheaded the initiative to create the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency and serves as its headquarters (2025)
Key space-program milestones
1962-1977 - sounding rocket initiative
1985 - first Mexican astronaut in space aboard the US Space Shuttle; first communications satellite (Morelos-1) constructed by the US and deployed from the US Space Shuttle
2015 - inaugural successful launch of the MEXSAT series of communications satellites by the US
2021 - entered into the US-led Artemis Accords for lunar and space exploration
2024 - provided five autonomous micro-robots (Colmena project) for a failed US commercial lunar lander mission