Turkic countries launch joint space projects for Earth monitoring

Representatives of the parliaments of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus visited the National Space Center and familiarized themselves with its operations. The visit took place within the framework of the 14th Plenary Session of the Turkic Parliament Assembly (TurkPA), where countries discuss cooperation in the economy, culture, digitalization, ecology, and healthcare. Guests were shown the assembly and testing complex, where satellites weighing from 100 kilograms to 6 tons are assembled and tested. Kazakh specialists create components for spacecraft here, some of which are exported.  

A model of the scientific satellite KazSTSat was also presented, which Kazakhstan developed jointly with a British company and launched in 2018. It is used for monitoring agriculture, water resources, and predicting natural disasters. Currently, work is underway to create a constellation of five such satellites, with a planned launch by 2028.  

Furthermore, countries agreed to develop similar satellites for Mongolia and Congo. In the future, they plan to integrate them into a single system for data exchange and improved space monitoring.  

Speakers were also presented with the OTS-Sat project — a nanosatellite being developed by countries of the Organization of Turkic States. Its design has already been completed, procurement of components and assembly are underway, as well as testing of the optical payload.  

Parliamentarians also learned about the Baiterek space rocket complex, which Kazakhstan is building together with Russia at Baikonur. It will help create a full-fledged space industry — from satellite production to launches. The first test launch is scheduled for the end of the year.

Source: mazhilis.parlam.kz