Expert: space data provided by Belarusian satellites enjoy demand and generate profit

Belarus has seriously progressed in the production of satellites and the implementation of other space programmes, and the recent flight of the Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft to the Russian segment of the ISS with Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya, Belarus-born Oleg Novitsky and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson on board is another confirmation of this. In his talk with sb.by, Aleksei Avdonin, an expert at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research, speculated on how the development of Belarusian space technologies will affect GDP growth, contribute to the creation of new jobs and strengthen the country's scientific potential.

“The economic effect of using space data obtained by our satellites exceeds revenues over expenses on their operation: as of early 2024, the positive balance exceeded $44m. This suggests that the space sector requires no large expenditures of our state, although many opponents – when criticising Belarus and distorting statistics – assert that the country spends much money on the research and investments into the space industry. This is not true, of course. Belarus is already making money on space information, which enjoys great demand. We are speaking here about the Earth remote sensing systems: weather, forest and crop yield forecasting, emergency prevention, study of climate change, land fund monitoring, and much more. All these data are in high demand among business entities; the latter are ready to pay good money for such information not only in Belarus, but also abroad. In this way, the country increases its exports of services and generates profit,” Mr. Avdonin explained.