Academy of Sciences comments on Belarus' prospects in space exploration

MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) – Representatives of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) have sketched out Belarus' prospects in outer space, BelTA has learned.

The Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of Earth has been in orbit for over ten years already. Plans are in place to launch new satellites and expand the Belarusian-Russian satellite constellation. Work is in progress on two satellites with the resolution of 0.5m and with the super high resolution of 0.35m. The first one is supposed to be launched in the next few years. The second one – a Belarusian-Russian satellite – will be inserted into orbit slighter later on.

Igor Strashko, Deputy Director for Production of the state enterprise Geoinformation Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, said: “If you look at it globally, we are creating not simply a satellite but a Belarusian-Russian space system. The preliminary design has been finished. How Russian and Belarusian enterprises will work together to make it has been determined. A schedule for creating the system has been agreed. The satellite is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2028.”

Belarusian State University's educational nano satellite BSU Sat-1 is also in orbit. Academician-Secretary of the Physics, Math, and Informatics Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Aleksandr Shumilin said that the second student satellite is supposed to be launched this year or the next one.

Belarus will also make an important step forward in the field of manned space flights. Three men from Belarus – Piotr Klimuk, Vladimir Kavalenok, and Oleg Novitsky – have already been to outer space. Now time has come for a Belarusian woman cosmonaut to fly into outer space. She will represent Belarus. “Various specializations exist: a medic cosmonaut, a tester cosmonaut. We will have a Belarusian researcher cosmonaut. A scientific research program has been prepared. All the main procedures have been completed. Two women have been selected,” Aleksandr Shumilin said.

The candidates for the space flight will go through extensive training – they will study the research program in the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and will go through a training program of Roscosmos in the Russian Federation. According to the latest information, the flight of the first Belarusian cosmonaut has been rescheduled for spring 2024. No definite date is available yet.