Amid the backdrop of a possibility of the BRICS group expanding to include other emerging economies, such as Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, and a thrust to cooperation on digital transformation, the group has planned to come up with a “virtual constellation” of Earth Observing (EO) satellites.
Although India has had a rich past of collaboration with Russia as far as space programs are concerned, the country hasn’t liaised with China so far. However, a joint commission on space cooperation for the BRICS bloc was established at a meeting of the top space agencies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, according to a report by the Chinese state media.
The BRICS remote sensing constellation that is planned to come up and will be made up of six existing satellites contributed by the space agencies of four BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, and China. According to official Chinese media reports, CBERS-4, jointly developed by Brazil and China, Russia’s Kanopus-V-type, and China’s Gaofen-6 and Ziyuan III 02 will be part of the constellation. Besides these, India’s Resourcesat 2 and Resourcesat 2A will also be a part of the constellation.
The build-up to the event was the agreement for cooperation in remote sensing satellite data sharing signed in August 2021 which Geospatial World had reported. At that time, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India was quoted as saying, “The agreement will help accelerate cooperation between the BRICS countries in the peaceful use of outer Space with use of data and applications across an array of sectors such as research on global climate change, agriculture and food security, disaster management and water resource management, amongst others.”
Agência Espacial Brasileira, ROSCOSMOS, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), China National Space Administration (CNSA), and South African National Space Agency (SANSA) are all party to the agreement.
BRICS’ increasing clout was also seen when Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong said that BRICS countries should seize the opportunity presented by industrial internet development and deepen cooperation on digital transformations.
Wang had made the remarks at the BRICS Forum on Development of the Industrial Internet and Digital Manufacturing, which opened on Monday in Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province. Because the industrial structures of BRICS countries are highly complementary, there is broad space for their cooperation in the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, he said.
According to Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, the aim of remote sensing satellite data sharing is strengthening cooperation on satellite constellations will guide the remote sensing sharing mechanism to better help the socioeconomic development of the BRICS countries and meet common challenges, such as climate change, disaster relief, and environmental protection of member countries. The decision was taken in a meeting held by video link on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
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