Belarus taking part in work of UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
Belarus is taking part in the work of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, sb.by reports with reference to the press service of Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
The 67th session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is being held in Vienna (Republic of Austria) from June 19th-28th, 2024, attended by representatives of Belarus’ NAS and the Permanent Mission of Belarus to international organisations in Vienna.
On June 19th, 2024, Deputy Head at Belarus’ NAS Aerospace Activities Department Ivan Bucha made a statement on agenda item 5. He noted that space activities are conducted in Belarus for peaceful purposes, aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN.
“Space activity is an area of concentration of the latest achievements of mankind and the pinnacle of sci-tech progress, making a significant contribution to the development of science and technology, economics and culture, as well as informatisation of society. Belarus is one of the countries with a high level of sci-tech development,” Ivan Bucha stressed. Alongside the existing competencies in the field of the Earth remote sensing, space instrumentation, electronic component base, and new materials for space applications, Belarus is exploring a new direction of space research: manned cosmonautics.”
The NAS representative underlined that a joint Belarusian-Russian project has been implemented for the space flight of a Belarusian citizen to the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) for research purposes. Belarus’ cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya has made a space flight as part of the crew of the 21st expedition to the ISS. The crew commander was Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and the flight engineer was American astronaut Tracy Dyson. The backup crew also included cosmonauts from Belarus and Russia and a US astronaut.
“The Belarusian cosmonaut has completed a scientific programme on the ISS, consisting of seven targeted works. The implementation of a joint Belarusian-Russian project on the space flight of a Belarusian cosmonaut to the Russian segment of the ISS was carried out by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation,” Ivan Bucha noted.
He expressed gratitude to the participating states of the project for the opportunity provided to the Belarusian cosmonaut to visit the ISS, noting that the implementation of the international project on the space flight of a Belarusian cosmonaut to the ISS once again testifies to the unifying role of space.
Belarus became a member of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 2014.
