BRICS Summit
Kazan. 22–24 October 2024

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BRICS Heads of Space Agencies Meet in Moscow

Moscow hosted a meeting of the Heads of BRICS Space Agencies on 23 May 2024. The event was attended by Russia BRICS Sherpa and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Ryabkov.

In his welcome address Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said that BRICS countries now have more than 1,200 national orbital satellites in space taking into account the accession of new countries to the association.

At the plenary session ‘Current and Future BRICS Projects’, Borisov put forward an initiative to create an international system to ensure the safety of space activities. It would be built based on an open information platform with a software package that could exchange information and monitor the situation in near-Earth space.

Roscosmos has previously announced plans to build the ‘Milky Way’ civilian security system in space on the platform of the Russian automated warning system for dangerous situations in near-Earth space. The open platform would be an information hub for the ‘Milky Way’ to exchange data on the situation in near and deep space, including warnings about dangerous space objects approaching Earth in order to prevent collisions. This project is particularly important due to the huge increase in the number of satellites and space debris in recent years.

In addition to man-made objects, BRICS countries also plan to exchange data on natural processes in space, such as solar activity, galactic radiation, and the trajectory of dangerous asteroids and other space objects. The system would be open to any participant, regardless of their expertise, technical capabilities, goals, and the terms of cooperation.

“Both curious enthusiasts and amateur astronomers, as well as professionals in space activities, including regional or national monitoring systems, will be able to connect to the platform. Based on their choice and desire, the partners will be offered the opportunity to receive information, products, and services, and to offer their own based on their demands,” Borisov said.

The Roscosmos Director General called on his colleagues from BRICS space agencies to consider the possibility of joining the open platform. In the future, he said, Roscosmos would consider options to expand its functionality in terms of exchanging remote sensing data and other space services.

He also proposed that BRICS partners cooperate in manned space exploration and noted the possibility of building modules within the Russian Orbital Station both for BRICS countries and a target BRICS module for a joint manned space programme. Such collaboration would involve scientific and practical research experiments, as well as a full training cycle for BRICS cosmonauts.

Borisov praised the collaboration of BRICS countries to expand the joint remote sensing satellite constellations. In 2023, BRICS countries exchanged information on the survey results of more than 27 million square kilometres of Earth’s surface. Borisov proposed increasing the BRICS orbital remote sensing constellation using new orbital vehicles, including those with high spatial resolution imaging equipment.

During the meeting, the participants considered a draft joint statement by the Heads of BRICS Space Agencies calling on the global community to make every effort to prevent any type of weapons from being deployed in space and to refrain from any activities that could risk damage to the space environment and the long-term sustainability of space activities, including the use of civilian space infrastructure for undeclared purposes.

The Heads of BRICS Space Agencies discussed their contribution to the final declaration of the BRICS Summit in Kazan (22–24 October 2024). The Russian side presented an initiative to establish the BRICS Space Council. The proposal generated significant interest and was taken into consideration by the partners.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the event of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.

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