The Argentine government has recently declared its participation in NASA’s Artemis II, marking the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission is set to deploy five small satellites in collaboration with NASA’s international partners, featuring Atenea, a satellite developed in Argentina. President Javier Milei showcased Argentina’s involvement in the moon mission as evidence of the nation’s technological capabilities and a justification for his “efficient” allocation of resources. The communication was not well received by the scientists involved: Atenea was created by the National Commission for Space Activities, a governmental body facing significant reductions in funding due to Milei’s extensive budget cuts to scientific endeavors. Artemis II is a proposed 10-day lunar spaceflight mission, spearheaded by NASA and set to launch on February 6. The mission involves a rocket transporting four astronauts on a journey around the moon and returning them to Earth. Although they will not reach the moon, this flight will propel the crew further from Earth than any prior human endeavor.
Atenea, the Argentine satellite, is a component of a technology demonstration mission crafted by the Argentine Space Agency, focused on the efficient and cost-effective creation of small satellites for Earth observation and space exploration. The Argentine microsatellite is scheduled for launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be placed aboard the rocket. The Atenea is a CubeSat with dimensions approximately 30 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm. The functions encompass the measurement of radiation doses in both low and deep orbits. “It will be held in the Artemis rocket, in a small cabin,” stated Emiliano Baum. “When it reaches 70,000 kilometers from Earth, it will be pushed into space.” For a duration of 14 hours, it will remain in orbit, allowing Argentina to gather data from that CubeSat for a period of 12 hours. Baum’s area will obtain Atenea’s data during its flight. “There are numerous obstacles associated with obtaining it. The satellite is programmed to transmit a signal at 15-second intervals before ceasing transmission. Locating it will prove to be quite challenging. “Of those 12 hours, we don’t know how long we will be able to receive information,” he stated. Raúl Kulichevsky remarked in a statement that “CONAE and NASA have a long and fruitful history of collaboration, spanning more than 30 years.” He noted that the selection for Artemis II showcases Argentina’s “technical and operational capabilities are at the highest international level.” ‘Unnecessary’ expenditure on social sciences Nevertheless, for the scientists engaged in the mission, Milei’s commemoration of the project was met with a sense of discontent.
The president stated that “technological development and research into strategic issues are the priorities for this administration’s investment in science, while resources are made more efficient by eliminating unnecessary spending in social or political areas.” However, as stated by Gonzalo Sanz Cerbino this assertion is inaccurate. “One thing that characterizes the situation of the Argentine scientific and technological system since Javier Milei took office is the almost total and complete defunding of all areas of scientific knowledge,” he told. “Milei is not reallocating resources from specific sectors to support others deemed strategic by the government,” he stated, noting that hard sciences, “which require increased investment for operational functionality and equipment maintenance, ultimately suffer the most from the administration’s budget reductions.”
The initiative encompasses the space program responsible for the development of the satellite. “We have lost more than 30% of the budget so far, and the budget presented for 2026 was 57% lower than the budget we obtained in 2025,” stated Baum. Since Milei assumed office, there has been a significant decline in the budget allocated to the nation’s scientific institutions. Baum highlighted that the Atenea project is comparatively low-cost and that its approval occurred prior to Milei assuming office. Furthermore, he indicated that the Milei administration dismantled CONEA’s other satellite projects — Tronador and SAOCOM 2. According to Baum, the Artemis mission signifies a “new space race” between the United States and China. “Both countries are vying to create a lunar base that will act as a central point for upcoming deep space endeavors,” he stated. He believes that the government’s announcement of the mission, coinciding with increased cuts in science, illustrates that “what matters to the government is the photo with the US flag, due to the geopolitical alignment that the Milei administration aims to showcase.”