Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 6 October (BelTA) – Belarus occupies a strong position in the global process of space exploration. The opinion was voiced by the Russian publicist Aleksei Anpilogov in his column on the website sonar2050.org as he commented on BelTA’s recent interview with Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich.

The expert is convinced that Belarus has a lot to offer as far as space technologies are concerned. Belarusian engineers and scientists were actively involved in the creation of the core equipment of the Belarusian satellite BKA while the future Belarusian-Russian satellite RBKA for the remote sensing of Earth will be created by Belarus to a large degree. Belarusian companies will create imaging equipment for the satellite while the Russian space agency Roscosmos will provide the platform and insert the satellite into orbit. The new satellite is scheduled for launch in late 2020 as part of the relevant program of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.

The first Belarusian satellite, which was inserted into its orbit five years ago, works well. In addition to recouping its cost it has managed to earn extra $8 million. This is why Belarus has decided to extend its service life up to the end of the next year according to preliminary data. Belarus is putting major efforts into creating the new RBKA satellite, which will replace the BKA satellite once it is no longer operational.

Thus, the Belarusian space program already rests on a solid economic foundation and is at the forefront of development as far as technologies are concerned, stressed Aleksei Anpilogov. The BKA satellite has only Belarusian optical equipment on board. The equipment can take photos from space with the resolution of 2 meters, which is on par with most of the competitors. “The creation of topographic maps, amelioration, detection of forest fires, floods, illegal forest harvesting operations — all these tasks are important for the Belarusian economy, the manufacturing sector, agriculture, and public life and are successfully handled by the BKA satellite. And its operation produces positive economic results, about which critics of the Belarusian space program falsely care so much about,” noted Aleksei Anpilogov.

According to the source, Belarus occupies a strong position in the global process of space exploration. The Belarusian space industry is not only viable. It has already secured its part of the global market against tough competition. “Belarus’ dreams about manned space flights of its own rather mundanely rest on present-day accomplishments. Belarus’ manned flight ambitions can be quite easily implemented as part of the program to create a new Russian manned spacecraft, which is being made by Roscosmos to replace the outdated Soyuz vehicle,” believes Aleksei Anpilogov.

“And there is nothing fantastic about it. Step-by-step work as part of space programs of the Union State of Belarus and Russia can definitely create the reality, in which Belarusians can easily get a worthy spot in the manned space flight program. On the whole, space exploration should be considered as a platform for transition to the next level of relations in the Union State of Belarus and Russia along with nuclear energy industry, joint projects in mechanical engineering industry, and other endeavors,” concluded the expert.