INVAP
INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers projects for nuclear, aerospace, chemical, medical, petroleum and governmental sectors.
The company is an unlisted private company, the sole owner being the Province of Río Negro. Its headquarters is in San Carlos de Bariloche. As of 2023, INVAP employs some 1,700 employees, 80% of which are professionals and specialists in their field of expertise.
In 2018 the company was avowed as the most important business from Argentina, winning the Diamond Konex Award.
Background
INVAP was created on September 1, 1976, as a spin-off of the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission, research laboratories division. The name INVAP is a portmanteau of the words investigación aplicada.Satellites
INVAP was the first company in Latin America certified by NASA to supply space technologies. It constructs satellites, payloads, and ground stations, including the SAC satellite family, developed for the Argentine space agency CONAE. INVAP was the first company in Latin America to provide design, development, mission control and operational support.The SAC-D was put into orbit on June 9, 2011, carrying several scientific payloads, including NASA's $100 million Aquarius project, which will measure the oceans' salinity. ARSAT-1 - the first communications satellite entirely built in Argentina - was launched in 2014, while a second satellite in the series, ARSAT-2 was launched in September 2015.
Nuclear projects
In the field of nuclear projects, the company specializes in the design and construction of nuclear research reactors, radioisotope production plants, nuclear fuel manufacturing plants, uranium enrichment facilities, neutron beam transport systems, radiation protection instrumentation, reactor protection systems, and modernization and refurbishment of research reactors. INVAP also conducts consultancy and research activities for nuclear power plant suppliers in areas such as nuclear reactor fuels, laser isotope separation, and reactor core reshuffling studies for nuclear power plants.INVAP has constructed and installed the following nuclear reactors:
| Country | Location | Name | Notes |
 AlgeriaOther projects;Civilian
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