Belarus: Belarus and Russia have plans for creating a group of space satellites. The matter was discussed at a meeting attended by Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich and Anatoly Shilov, Deputy Head of the Federal Space Agency of Russia (Roscosmos).
Belarus and Russia had been working on the project for more than four years now, said Shilov. The satellites are now about to complete flight tests. They complement each other, have similar characteristics and boast a resolution of two meters. The products the satellites will make will be in demand on the global market. Therefore, Belarus and Russia will continue working in this area.
Now a certain phase is about to be complete: after the tests, the satellites will be commissioned. Shilov remarked the sides had agreed to continue working together. So the owners of the two satellites are different but the group is common. Now the sides have to decide what they are going to do from now on. “It would be a good idea to make a group of six satellites instead of two. Then each of them would be able to take an image of one location on the planet within 24 hours,” said the Roscosmos representative. It would be sufficient for daily updates.
Apart from that, it is possible to consider making the next version of the satellite with different capabilities and better resolutions. The Belarusian manufacturer OAO Peleng has the capability. “We know about them. We are discussing whether we should make more precise satellites, more up-to-date ones, or whether we should just copy what we have,” said Shilov.
Source: Belta
