The 6th meeting of the CIS Interstate Space Council is taking place in Minsk today, September 24th, with Dmitry Bakanov, the Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation, visiting the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Belarus to conduct a working meeting with Vladimir Karanik, the Chairman of the NAS Presidium



Mr. Bakanov highlighted that Belarus has been Russia’s long-standing and reliable partner in the space sector, “One area of co-operation is the development of the Russian-Belarusian space system featuring a Russian-Belarusian spacecraft built jointly by two of our leading companies. This will provide us with a high-resolution device that will serve the interests of both our countries by capturing highly detailed images of all the territories we need.”



There are intentions to broaden efforts in this field, with Mr. Bakanov and Mr. Karanik discussing the details of further deepening liaisons at the council meeting.


“The second focus is on manned space exploration. Marina Vasilevskaya became the first cosmonaut from sovereign Belarus. In 2024, she travelled to the International Space Station. Currently, discussions are underway regarding Anastasia Lenkova. Several other issues still need to be addressed. If approved, Belarus will have a second female cosmonaut. It is very important for us to ensure the realisation of such a project within the Union State,” the Roscosmos Chief added.


The event is being attended by heads of the competent authorities in the field of space activities, representatives of relevant departments and organisations of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, along with members of the CIS Executive Committee and the Union State Standing Committee.



The participants are discussing the advancement of co-operation and co-ordination in joint activities within the space sector. In particular, they are focusing on the execution of decisions made at the previous meeting of the CIS Interstate Space Council, as well as the work of the group responsible for developing a draft interstate co-operation programme for the provision and use of space products and services for the period up to 2030. The agenda also includes topics such as the prospects for joint fundamental space research, among others. Suitable decisions will be made on all the issues listed on the agenda.