Argentina's National University of La Plata is joining hands with NASA and Dassault Systems Solutions in a project that will see the Argentine engineering and aeronautics experts collaborating in the building of a climate change monitoring satellite, according to UPI. The partnership was hailed as the first collaboration of its kind, mainly because of NASA's decision to outsource some of the key work. Dassault Systemes, a major player in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions and the Argentine university unveiled their key contributions to Project Aquaries-SAC-D, a satellite mission that uses scientific applications that help predict climatic changes accurately. UNLP used Dassault Systemes solutions to design, develop, test and manage two of seven major instruments that make up the SAC-D Aquarius project. Argentine industry analysts hailed the announcement as a major advance for Argentina as it endeavors to regenerate its aerospace and defense industries. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has set military industry modernization as of her announced goals. SAC-D resulted from an international partnership between Argentine, French and U.S. companies. The partnership includes the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Center, Dassault Systemes and Argentina's National Commission for Space Activities, known by its Spanish acronym of CONAE or Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Dassault Systemes has headquarters in Velizy-Villacoublay, France but operates most of its operations in the Americas from regional headquarters in Lowell, Mass. The company has more than 130,000 customers in 80 countries.
