Belarusian satellite nets massive volume of contracts

The sum of the contracts the Belarusian companies have taken after launching the Belarusian satellite now exceeds the cost of creating the space system for the remote sensing of the Earth by six times. The information was released by Oleg Semenov, Chief Engineer of the enterprise Geoinformation Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, at the joint session of the scientific board and the board of trustees of the Belarusian National Fund for Fundamental Research on 16 April, BelTA has learned.

According to the executive, the VAT the public treasury will get after the contracts are fulfilled will exceed the cost of creating the Belarusian space system for the remote sensing of the Earth. Apart from that, new products in the area of space technologies will enhance the country’s scientific and technical potential.

A new space program envisages further development of the remote sensing system. “Creating a combined sensing system is the idea,” explained Oleg Semenov. The multiple-layer system will include space and airborne components and thus will be less dependent on weather conditions. For instance, with heavy clouds it is difficult to take space photos of the Earth’s surface, however, the same task can be accomplished using unmanned aerial vehicles.

“We should create a complex system to include all the types of the Earth sensing in order to carry out Belarusian economy development tasks most effectively,” explained the Chief Engineer.