| Belarus intends to launch its own artificial Earth satellite in the fourth quarter of 2009. This was announced by the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences, Mikhail Myasnikovich, during a government discussion of the space program, which also provides for the creation of a center for receiving and processing information. According to him, the satellite “will make it possible to provide repeated and complete coverage of the territory of the republic with space imagery, and not the episodic and low-quality coverage that is available today... If Russian satellites are busy, then they cannot give us the necessary information.” Minsk intends to develop the space program together with Moscow. “A space constellation will operate in orbit, which improves the commercial component and reliability of operation,” explained Mr. Myasnikovich.
In 2009, Minsk will make a second attempt to start space research. The first Belarusian satellite, BelKA, crashed during the unsuccessful launch of the Russian Dnepr launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2006. According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, when developing a new satellite, Minsk strives “not to repeat the previous satellite, but to make it better.” Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk Minsk intends to develop the space program together with Moscow
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