Kazakhstan plans to build six Earth observation satellites, including three high-resolution and three medium-resolution spacecraft. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev announced the expansion at a government meeting on October 6.
The country’s existing system operates three satellites. Their imagery can be used to monitor fires and floods and detect illegal mining, construction, and land use.
For Kazakhstan, which covers about 2.7 million square kilometers, satellite imagery makes it possible to monitor large areas regularly without continuous ground inspections. Madiyev put the economic impact of space-based monitoring over the past five years at 977 billion tenge, around $2.14 billion.
Kazakhstan is also trying to turn its satellite technology into an export business. It is implementing three projects with Mongolia, the Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, worth about $70 million in total.
These partners are expected to participate in a Kazakhstan-led international Earth observation constellation. Earlier government plans envisaged nine satellites by 2030, comprising six spacecraft from Kazakhstan and one from each partner country, with a possible later expansion to 14. Madiyev said the larger constellation is now expected by that date. Operating the satellites as a shared constellation would allow areas to be photographed more frequently and increase coverage.
Kazakhstan has a satellite assembly and testing complex in Astana. The state-owned Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary operates the country’s Earth observation system, while Ghalam, a Kazakh-French joint venture, develops spacecraft and components at the complex.
In September, Kazakhstan signed a strategic cooperation agreement with South Korea’s CONTEC Co., Ltd. on satellite manufacturing, ground infrastructure, Earth observation data processing, and commercialization. A separate investment agreement involving CONTEC and Ghalam is intended to expand production and technological capabilities in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan also operates the KazSat-2 and KazSat-3 communications satellites. Madiyev said the system has generated 72 billion tenge, around $158 million, in revenue.
KazSat-3 is due to reach the end of its planned service life in 2029 and be replaced by the KazSat-3R system. The government has already allocated 10.4 billion tenge, about $22.3 million, from its reserve toward the project.
