Events

Vladimir Gusakov of Belarus to chair CIS Interstate Council for Outer Space

Vladimir Gusakov

MINSK, 22 January (BelTA) – Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov has been elected Chairman of the Interstate Council for Outer Space of the Commonwealth of Independent States, BelTA has learned.

“It is a great honor for me; I will try to do my best in this role. We need to jointly draft a program of the council’s work for 2020. We will try to expand the council this year by inviting other CIS states to join it. After all,  other CIS member states show their interest in it,” Vladimir Gusakov said.

Participants of the session of the CIS Interstate Council for Outer Space will discuss cooperation of the CIS states in integrating the ground infrastructures that use GLONASS system signals, as well as the implementation of joint projects in the area of space exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. “We will discuss the whole range of cooperation matters, including plans to create a joint group of satellites. The countries have been running their space programs separately, now we need to bring them into line. We need a common coherent information exchange program,” Vladimir Gusakov said.

“Kazakhstan has always supported international cooperation in all the fields, including the space industry. Cooperation makes the use of space technology and utilization of space research outcomes much more efficient. The expansion of cooperation will facilitate the implementation of new projects,” Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry Azamat Batyrkozha said.

According to Deputy Director of the Economic Cooperation Department of the CIS Executive Committee Aladdin Kuli-Zade, the main goal of the session is to facilitate transition from bilateral cooperation in the space industry to multilateral. “We have been moving towards this goal for ten years,” he added. 

The CIS Interstate Council for Outer Space was established in order to coordinate efforts aimed at implementing the CIS agreement on joint work in studying and using outer space for peaceful purposes. The agreement was signed in Astana, Kazakhstan on 2 November 2018. Taking part in the session in Minsk are delegations of the CIS member states, heads of the space industries of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia, representatives of the CIS Executive Committee and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks