Lula spoke during an official visit to Peru, three days after a satellite launch rocket accidently ignited at Brazil's Alcantara space center. Twenty-one engineers and technicians were killed.

The Brazilian president paid tribute to "the young people who died giving an invaluable service to our country."

"We are going to continue with the space program."

"I've spoken with the minister of defence, who went to the base with the minister of technology and they have told me that the problem was not due to a lack of money," Lula said.

He said the causes behind the blast remain unclear.

Brazilian authorities opened an inquiry Monday into the tragedy at the space center, located in the northern Brazilian state of Maranhao.

Brazil's Defence Minister Jose Viegas said the probe would focus on the causes behind the premature ignition of one of the rockets' engines, which exploded as ground technicians prepared the craft for take-off.

"There was an ignition that caused the explosion of fuel. We don't know the cause of this premature ignition and that is where we are concentrating our efforts," Viegas said in a press conference from the base Monday.

A likely possibility is that the explosion was sparked by an electrical discharge, which might have been caused by different forces, few of which seem probable at present, the defence minister said.

The rocket had been due to deliver its payload into orbit Monday.

Two separate commissions of inquiry will try to zero in on the reasons behind the accident. One will have 40 days to reach their findings and the other will have 30.

SPACE.WIRE