MINSK, 25 March (BelTA) – Sergei Zolotoi, Director of the R&D enterprise Geoinformation Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), told reporters about the development of a new Belarusian-Russian satellite on 25 March, BelTA has learned.
A joint space program was adopted in the Eurasian Economic Union in 2020. Among other things it provides for creating an orbital constellation of satellites. Plans have been made to create two Belarusian-Russian satellites with an extremely high resolution (0.35m) and three satellites with a resolution of 5m. Those three will be made by Kazakhstan. The legal base to regulate the interaction of five countries in this field is supposed to be developed this year, Sergei Zolotoi noted.
Work on the new Belarusian-Russian satellite is already in progress. A rough design has been prepared. The feasibility of implementation of technical solutions was checked in the course of the work on the rough design. Technical parameters of the satellite were verified. Detailed engineering schematic is being developed now, the official said.
The existing Belarusian satellite for the remote sensing of Earth boasts a resolution of 2m. The new satellite will have a much higher resolution. The Belarusian company Peleng will create the core equipment of the satellite while Russia will take care of inserting the satellite into orbit. Belarus will contribute about one third of the required work and the required finance while Russia will provide the rest.
The new satellite will have a number of unique functions. For instance, it will allow creating a highly-precise 3D model of a city with skyscrapers without shadows. It will be able to take videos 1.5 minutes long from an altitude of 700km.
