Kazakhstan, U.S. vow to step up space cooperation

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's three-day official visit to the U.S. resulted in signing of a wide range of agreements, including those on bilateral cooperation in space industry, Kazinform reports.

Attending the signing ceremony were representatives of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Of 26 documents inked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in New York, three were dedicated to strengthening of cooperation in space industry.

The Letter of Intent between the Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a scientific agency of the United States government, was inked by Deputy Chairman of Kazcosmos Malik Olzhabekov and USGS Associate Director Dr. Dave Applegate.



The document will serve as a backbone for mutually profitable cooperation in the use of ERS space technologies and development of spatial data infrastructure, the ministry's press service says.

USGS has been cooperating with Kazakhstan for some time now. The American agency helps monitor the situation with water resources in Ili-Balkhash region, as well as emergencies and natural disasters within the framework of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters".

The second document - memorandum of cooperation - was signed by Yergazy Nurgaliyev of Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary JSC and Bradley Skelton of Hexagon Geospatial.

As per the memorandum, the sides agreed to jointly work in the sphere of advanced spatial information technologies and software tools to enhance efficiency of Kazakhstan's ERS space system.

Aibergen Ruslauly, General Director at Galam LLP, and CEO of VT iDirect Kevin Steen also inked the memorandum of cooperation. VT iDirect is a global leader in IP-based satellite communications.


The sides are expected to cooperate on the creation of satellite communication systems as well as other products and services of mutual interest.

On the sidelines of the working trip to Washington, Kazcosmos delegation had a meeting with representatives of ESRI. The companies looked into the possibility of using ESRI's platform for space monitoring of the Republic of Kazakhstan and problems related to space images provided by Kazakhstan's ERS system.

It is to be recalled that the Akorda presidential administration sees leadership in space exploration as one of key aspects of economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the U.S.

The United States appreciates that Kazakhstan is the point of departure and safe return for American astronauts traveling to and from the International Space Station. The United States encourages Kazakhstan's participation in the 2ndInternational Space Exploration Forum on March 3 in Japan. Kazakhstan and the United States will explore cooperation in the application of space technologies to assess environmental and natural hazards within the framework of the International Charter, which aims to provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to countries affected by natural or man-made disasters.

 

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