Belarus intends not only to maintain but also to qualitatively expand its presence in manned space programs. The Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Vladimir Karanik, stated at the Russian Space Forum to TASS about active negotiations with the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, to take cooperation to a fundamentally different level.
The first Belarusian cosmonaut, Marina Vasilevskaya, worked in orbit for 14 days in the spring of 2024, completing seven joint scientific projects. Before her, only natives of the BSSR flew into space under the flag of the USSR — Klimuk, Kovalenok, and Novitsky. Now Minsk wants to turn a single landing into a systemic presence, while accelerating a joint ultra-high resolution satellite, which is planned to be launched into orbit in November 2028.
For the Union State, this is the consolidation of technological cooperation in a strategic direction dominated by the United States and China. The return of Belarus to the manned program means not only prestige but also the loading of the Russian segment of the ISS and the promising ROS with Belarusian science and budgetary injections. If the negotiations end with a contract for several flights, Moscow will receive an ally ready to co-finance the expensive entry into deep space.
