Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE)

Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE) is a Brazilian military aerospace research institute under the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), which reports to the Brazilian Air Force. Formally established in 1969 in São José dos Campos, with roots tracing to the founding of Brazil's aerospace research complex, CTA, in 1954, IAE is responsible for developing Brazil's sounding rockets and orbital launch vehicles. Its Sonda series (I through IV) and the VS-30, VS-40 and VSB-30 sounding rockets have flown scientific and microgravity payloads for decades, including joint campaigns with Germany's DLR.

IAE leads development of the VLS (Veículo Lançador de Satélites) and the smaller VLM-1 (Veículo Lançador de Microssatélites) orbital launch vehicles, intended to give Brazil an indigenous small-satellite launch capability from the Alcântara Launch Center. It also runs the 14-X hypersonic scramjet demonstrator program, which conducted a flight test in December 2021. IAE works alongside Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and the Alcântara and Barreira do Inferno launch sites as one of the pillars of the Brazilian space program, though unlike INPE it focuses on launch vehicles and propulsion rather than satellites.

The institute is funded through the Air Force budget rather than commercial revenue, and its flagship VLS program has suffered repeated schedule slips and a fatal pad accident in 2003. IAE remains active, continuing VLM and sounding-rocket development as of 2026.