Belarus: European nation, Belarus, is expected to sign a cooperation agreement with European Space Agency, according to a report of BelTA. The chances of signing this agreement will be discussed during the Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) that is to be held in Belarus in 2018.
Aleksei Belotserkovsky, the head of the intellectual information systems department of the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, told the media on 31 March, BelTA reported.
“The roadmap for our preparations for the congress is under development. It will include ideas regarding our plans to sign an agreement with the European Space Agency,” Aleksei Belotserkovsky noted.
Belarus is ready to develop cooperation within the framework of the Galileo project (a joint project of the European Union and the European Space Agency to create a global navigation satellite system), and the Earth observation program Copernicus.
“Our scientists could participate in the Copernicus program. They have vast experience in the processing of images and development of systems for remote sensing of the Earth,” Aleksei Belotserkovsky said.
Plans have been made to invite representatives of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Center for Space Studies of France to attend the congress.
“I believe we can sign several agreements, for instance, with the space agencies of Poland and France. We will be working towards this,” Aleksei Belotserkovsky added.
Belarus will host the Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers in September 2018. The event is expected to bring together representatives of more than 30 countries. Every year the ASE Planetary Congress gathers outstanding cosmonauts and astronauts, representatives of research institutions and national space agencies.
