MOSCOW, 17 May (BelTA) – Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) intend to pool their space resources. The idea was discussed during the latest session of the Advisory Committee for Industry of the Eurasian Economic Commission in Moscow, the Commission's press service told BelTA.
Sergei Sidorsky, Member of the Board (Minister) for Industry and Agribusiness of the Eurasian Economic Commission, noted that the EAEU member states will get a modern constellation of satellites, which will take photos of Earth's surface in multiple spectrums with a high resolution. It will be done thanks to the implementation of the project designed to create a Eurasian Economic Union integrated system for providing space and geoinformation services based on combined resources for the remote sensing of Earth.
The project lays down a good foundation for cooperatively transferring technologies in a number of promising industries, noted Sergei Sidorsky. Those are optics industry, optics and mechanics industry, radio electronics, production of innovative composite materials, and many other industries.
According to Sergei Sidorsky, the project may become the foundation for the global system for the remote sensing of Earth that Russia is creating and part of a similar system of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Once it is done, the status of the Eurasian Economic Union as a player on the market of space services will get higher.
The Eurasian Economic Commission together with the Eurasian innovative technology platform Space and Geoinformation Technologies have developed an action plan for implementing the project step by step. First, the project's participants will choose the commercial operator of space and geoinformation services of the Eurasian Economic Union member states. The operator will have to take care of the commercial operation of the joint constellation of remote Earth sensing satellites. The operator will also have to come up with a strategy to market its services to the rest of the world. There are plans to put together an intergovernmental agreement and an interstate program for integrating the existing orbital and ground-based resources of the remote Earth sensing systems of the EAEU member states and for enlarging the joint orbital group of remote Earth sensing satellites.
As the second step a consolidated web portal will be created to provide geoinformation services to consumers in various branches of economy. The web portal will enable access to various services such as monitoring the development of industrial and urban territories, transport corridors, agriculture, forestry industry, and so on.
As the final step by 2020 the Eurasian Economic Union member states will have to work together to produce and insert into orbit the first jointly made satellite, which performance will exceed the existing satellites and prospective foreign competitors in many aspects. The share of domestic manufacturers of electronics and other components required to make such satellites will be increased to 70% by involving new potential manufacturers, which are located in the Eurasian Economic Union member states.
After a thorough discussion the sides fully approved of the project and decided in favor of submitting it for consideration of the Eurasian Economic Commission Board.
