Belarus to start making its second space satellite in 2017
BelarusFeed
6 January 2017, 22:05
The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) will start making the second satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth BKA-2 in 2017, the media learned during the presentation of the Year of Science in Belarus on 6 January.
The engineering specifications have already been worked out and the necessary contracts have been signed.
“A new branch of science — space research — emerged in Belarus in the last two years. We have created a system for the remote sensing of the Earth for this kind of research. We also have a satellite of our own. We are now working to create a new remote sensing satellite with the 0.5 meter resolution”, Piotr Vityaz, the Chief of Staff of NASB, said.
According to him, the data sent by BKA-1, the first satellite successfully lauched by Belarus in 2012, is used by eleven Belarusian ministries.
“The operation of BKA-1 has been extended by two years. I Apart from that, together with the Belarusian State University we have created a nanosatellite that needs to be launched this year. It is also necessary to create a control system. I think we are going to do it together in order to use the satellite not only for educational purposes but scientific ones as well,” the official added.
The new satellite will be made using the manufacturing cooperation schemes that were utilized to make BKA-1.The core equipment will be made by the Belarusian company Peleng. BKA-2 satellite will allow making topographic maps with the 1-10,000 scale. The product can then be used for various land cadaster tasks.
The first Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on 22 July 2012 as part of a cluster of five satellites. Belarus intends to send the second satellite into orbit in late 2019.
Also, in January 2016, the first Belarusian communications satellite Belintersat-1 launched successfully in China. The satellite is intended to provide a full range of advanced satellite services in Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as to ensure global coverage in the Eastern Hemisphere.
6 January 2017, 22:05
The first Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on 22 July 2012. Photo credit: Roscosmos/BelTA
The engineering specifications have already been worked out and the necessary contracts have been signed.
“A new branch of science — space research — emerged in Belarus in the last two years. We have created a system for the remote sensing of the Earth for this kind of research. We also have a satellite of our own. We are now working to create a new remote sensing satellite with the 0.5 meter resolution”, Piotr Vityaz, the Chief of Staff of NASB, said.
According to him, the data sent by BKA-1, the first satellite successfully lauched by Belarus in 2012, is used by eleven Belarusian ministries.
“The operation of BKA-1 has been extended by two years. I Apart from that, together with the Belarusian State University we have created a nanosatellite that needs to be launched this year. It is also necessary to create a control system. I think we are going to do it together in order to use the satellite not only for educational purposes but scientific ones as well,” the official added.
The new satellite will be made using the manufacturing cooperation schemes that were utilized to make BKA-1.The core equipment will be made by the Belarusian company Peleng. BKA-2 satellite will allow making topographic maps with the 1-10,000 scale. The product can then be used for various land cadaster tasks.
The first Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of the Earth was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on 22 July 2012 as part of a cluster of five satellites. Belarus intends to send the second satellite into orbit in late 2019.
Also, in January 2016, the first Belarusian communications satellite Belintersat-1 launched successfully in China. The satellite is intended to provide a full range of advanced satellite services in Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as to ensure global coverage in the Eastern Hemisphere.
