Russia&CIS

The Global Satellite Coalition (GSC), a group of seven trade associations representing the global satellite eco-system, has welcomed the decisions taken at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), Sharm-el-Sheikh, which allow satellite services to continue to bridge digital, education, health and social divides and connect more and more citizens around the world.

Testing of the ExoMars rover at Airbus in Toulouse has moved to the next stage with the start of the thermal vacuum testing (TVAC) which will last about 18 days.

The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group is pleased to announce the adoption of the Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities.

The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, has announced that it intends to initiate international talks to ban the testing and use of Kinetic Energy (KE) anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons.

The Ukrainian parliament passed the country’s first commercial space law, titled “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the State Regulation of Space Activities,” that was signed on 25 October 2019 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Oleksiy Burchevskyy of the Kinstellar law firm writing in Lexology.

This is “ Russia-China Strategic Alliance Gets a New Boost with Missile Early Warning System?”, originally published 28 October 2019 at The Diplomat.

Glavkosmos, a subsidiary company of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to provide life support and spacecraft thermal technologies for the Indian Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.

The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, and the Turkish Space Agency are reported to be in advanced discussions over a formal bilateral space cooperation agreement, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

The Chinese government has started an initiative to promote greater use of its BeiDou global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in Central Asian countries for applications such as precision farming, transportation, and disaster relief and management.

Kazakhstan has proposed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with Turkey in order to collaborate on space launch out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to an official from the Aerospace Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Defence and Aerospace Industry.