The launch of the Belarusian small spacecraft is scheduled for 2027. In total, three small spacecraft are being built as part of the Kompleks SG joint programme between Russia and Belarus, with their development due to be completed this year, as reported by BelTA, a partner of TV BRICS.
The Belarusian satellite will be equipped with two instruments for studying near-Earth space – a probe and a device for detecting charged particles heading towards Earth.
“This involves not only solar flares but also high-energy cosmic radiation. The source of a magnetic storm is a solar flare. From the moment of the flare, this high-energy radiation reaches Earth within a few hours, whilst the magnetic storm develops over several days. Consequently, with such a detector, we will be able to predict this magnetic storm at an early stage and then monitor it and model its development,” explained Sergey Zolotoy, Director of the Geoinformation Systems enterprise of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
In addition, at the end of 2025, two more Belarusian spacecraft – NASBSat-1 and NASBSat-2 – were launched into space. One of them is equipped with Belarusian-made instruments for probing the ionosphere to forecast magnetic storms. The second spacecraft, weighing 19 kilogrammes, is designed to monitor temperature anomalies: it processes information on board and transmits only the coordinates of potential fire hotspots to Earth. This significantly reduces the requirements for receiving equipment.
Vladimir Karanik, Chairman of the Praesidium of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic, also announced at the Russian Space Forum in Moscow that Belarus is participating in the lunar programme with its own developments in multi-layer protection and systems for nuclear power and nuclear engines.
In addition, Belarus is jointly developing with Russia an ultra-high-resolution (0.35 m) spaceborne instrument for Earth remote sensing and the associated equipment. The launch is scheduled for 2028.