Roscosmos Head, Igor Komarov, the Chief of Staff at the NAS of Belarus, Piotr Vityaz, and pilot-cosmonaut Piotr Klimuk
The agreement was reached during a visit by the Russian Agency’s delegation led by its head, Igor Komarov. So far, only some aspects of joint co-operation have been discussed, as the current Belarusian satellite has not yet exhausted its resources.
The Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences’ Presidium, Vladimir Gusakov, explains that the new satellite will boast the newest equipment, enabling it to produce photos of greatly enhanced quality. Their resolution will be extremely high, improving on the current two metres to one metre. The operating satellite sends pictures to the Emergency Ministry, the Agriculture and Food Ministry, the Ministry for Environmental Protection and the Forestry Ministry, but pictures from the new satellite will satisfy not only our domestic needs but will also be sold abroad. The recently established company, run jointly by the Russian Federal Space Agency and National Academy of Sciences, will oversee the commercial aspects of the new development.
Model of new Belarusian-Russian satellite
On meeting Mr. Komarov recently, Belarus’ Prime Minister, Andrei Kobyakov, appreciated the successes of the Russian-Belarusian co-operation in the cosmic sphere. “Belarus enjoys rich scientific potential and has experience in producing sci-tech space-related products,” he said. “However, we should also stress that our country’s significant results in the sphere of cosmic activity have been achieved in close co-operation with the Russian Federal Space Agency. Several joint space-related programmes of the Union State are being realised and, owing to the projects completed so far have been a great success. A high level of co-operation has been achieved by both Belarusian and Russian companies in the fields of industry, science and education.”
By Olga Bebenina
