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MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – For now Belarus has not considered the idea of arranging a human spaceflight mission of its own. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the relevant statement while talking to representatives of Russian regional mass media in Minsk on 17 November, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “We have not yet thought about launching a manned spacecraft of our own. We may reach this point at some point in the future. It cannot be done for image building only. The project needs to recoup some of the costs. I think building a spacecraft together with Russians or Europeans or Americans would not be a problem. Whether we need it or not is the question. We can take care of our own goals together with Russians by sending a man into space with a program of his own. It may be the cheapest option after all.”

The head of state remarked that, for instance, arrangements could be made with Russia to add the program Belarus is interested in to the expedition led by the cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who grew up in Cherven, Minsk Oblast. He will be sent into outer space as the commander of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft.

However, the head of state did not rule out the possibility that Belarus might toy with the idea of launching a human spaceflight mission of its own. Belarus has a satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth as well as a communication satellite. Apart from that, Belarus has built a space flight control center of its own together with Chinese specialists and Belarusian personnel have been trained to operate the space flight control center.

Belarus intends to launch another satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth soon. Moreover, it will be a Belarusian product based on a Russian platform. “We will make the core equipment on our own and not only for ourselves. We make Russian satellites using manufacturing cooperation schemes as well as satellites for other countries,” said Alexander Lukashenko.