It would also be nearly unprecedented. Since then, there have been no long range missile sales to developing countries. But, as stated above, the MTCR is not an iron-clad legal prohibition against selling SLVs to MTCR partners if adequate end use assurances are guaranteed. Some critics argue that countries are now joining the regime so that they can procure SLV technology and covertly develop ICBMs. In particular, this claim has been made in reference to Brazil, which has negotiated a bilateral space cooperation agreement with Russia possibly to include the transfer of ICBMs for space launch.
Brazil straddles the equator, an ideal location for a launch site.
This hypothetical future transaction is at this point still highly controversial, even though Brazil is a responsible member of the world community and an MTCR partner. It is inconceivable that a missile sale to a rogue government or terrorist cell could be more lucrative than access to western launch markets, cooperative space projects, bilateral aid and access to funds from the international financial institutions. Clandestine ICBM sales to a despotic government are the stuff of a James Bond movie, not a real life threat. In the real world, governments have developed an extremely high degree of consensus over the past ten years that the spread of long-range missiles to dangerous governments ought not occur. The most powerful governments in the world have built up an impressive system of incentives and disincentives to head off missile development and exports.