The Talara Air Base, a strategic installation of the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) located on the coast of the Piura region, is poised to become the Spaceport in an ambitious project by the Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) to build one in the northern desert.
Peruvian Ambassador to the United States, Alfredo Ferrero, has just reported progress on the project under the Artemis Accords, which Peru signed at the end of last May at the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Washington.
The agreement would locally drive space development, being part of NASA’s upcoming space exploration projects in the coming years, and would promote information exchange with countries that are more advanced in scientific and technological fields, he reported. Additionally, the State’s Private Investment Promotion Agency (PROINVERSIÓN) would promote the idea under the Assets Projects (PA) modality, with an estimated investment of S/ 1,000 million, making it the most relevant of the package entrusted by MINDEF.
All of this could position Peru strategically within the global aerospace arena, reinforcing its relationship with the United States, although it may also involve relocating the No. 11 Air Group that has operated there for over 70 years.
Talara, a petroleum port 1,100 kilometers north of Lima, has been home since 1977 to the oldest fleet of Russian-Soviet combat aircraft in Peru, despite being originally built by the U.S. during World War II to protect the Panama Canal zone. It housed the FAP’s most powerful air defense system, the medium-range S-125 Neva/Pechora, operated Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bombers for over 25 years, and now hosts recently upgraded Su-25 attack aircraft by SEMAN Peru.
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