Argentina's congress has finally approved China's installation of its first space station outside its own borders.

The approval came easy since majority of the lawmakers belong to the FPV Victory Front political party of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner.

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The project, dubbed as China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC), is now on its second year of construction at the Andes foothills of Argentina's southern Neuquen province.

It is being built primarily to track unmanned Chinese missions to Mars and the moon.

The CLTC is set to go into full operation next year.

Right now, about 300 Argentinian workers, supervised by 9 Chinese managers, have laid the cement casing for the 35-meter-diameter antenna.

Argentina reportedly agreed to house the base, in exchange for the $11 billion loan granted by China to Argentina last year.

The loan helped to offset the dwindling reserves of Argentina's Central Bank.

China has also extended loans for two hydro-electric dams it will build in Patagonia.

Argentina is the world's third largest exporter of soy and China is its main buyer.

Some critics have questioned the generous five-year tax exemption given by Argentina for the use of the base, and another 50-year lease of the 200-hectare land surrounding the antenna.

Kirchner's administration did not encounter any problems in seeking a legislative approval for the deal, but this has not prevented the political opposition from hurling criticisms at the project.

Opposition legislator Elisa Carrio compared the agreement with the $1.5 million borrowed by Barings Brothers in London in 1824, a loan which took Argentina 81 years to pay.

Opposition senator Fernando Solanas even fears, the space installation might be used for military purposes, which could bring Argentina into conflict with countries like the United States.

"It's a dual civilian-military technology. It can be used for both aerospace and missile tracking," Solanas warns.

But officials of Argentina's space agency, CONAE, brushed off these suspicions. 

CONAE Secretary-General Felix Meniococci said Argentina has also signed another agreement with the European Space agency, for a similar base in the Malargue region.

Meniococci said this is part of Argentina's stride into great scientific and technological projects.

He also reported that in return for the tax and land concession, China will allow Argentina to use the antenna for 10% of its online time. 

TagsArgentina, space installation