Belarus and Russia to jointly create small spacecraft constellation

The constellation of spacecraft is being created within the framework of the Union State's Complex-SG space programme – as stated by the Director of Geoinformation Systems enterprise of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Sergei Zolotoi, at a press conference on April 10th, timed to coincide with World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day

“Two spacecraft are made by Russia, one by Belarus. These are two spacecraft weighing about 10kg and one weighing about 50kg. Such a constellation will solve problems related to remote sensing of the Earth. A camera mounted on a heavier spacecraft will provide a resolution of about two metres. In fact, it is similar to the camera installed on the current Belarusian spacecraft that weighs about 500kg, although the new one, and I would like to emphasise it, is only 50kg. That is a significant change in weight characteristics, and, accordingly, the cost of the spacecraft will be different,” Sergei Zolotoi noted.

Mr. Zolotoi added that two small spacecraft would solve the tasks of monitoring near-Earth space and the ionosphere. The structure of the equipment for each spacecraft has already been agreed, “The programme itself is scheduled to be completed in 2026. By that time, the spacecraft will be ready for launch. It will be implemented within the framework of a separate event of the Union State, which is now being arranged, and we will have a teleconference with Roscosmos in the near future. According to our calculations, the launch of a constellation of small spacecraft is possible in 2027.”