Earth Observation - The Times Of Central Asia

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Satellite Development

Kazakhstan Plans Six New Earth Observation Satellites

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.

Transporter-18 Mission

Two Central Asian Satellites Reach Orbit on SpaceX Rocket

A single SpaceX rocket carried two Central Asian spacecraft into orbit: Kyrgyzstan’s first national satellite and a spacecraft developed with the participation of students in Kazakhstan. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on October 1 as part of the Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The flight carried 130 payloads into low Earth orbit. Kyrgyzstan’s satellite weighs about five kilograms and is designed for Earth observation, with its data intended to help monitor agriculture, water resources, and environmental change. A team of about 10 engineers worked on the spacecraft for roughly two and a half years. Kazakhstan’s NIS PocketQube is a cube measuring just 5 × 5 × 5 centimeters and weighing about 250 grams. The spacecraft was developed at NIS Astana-Nura, part of the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) network. The satellite project began in 2019, and the school established its NIS Space laboratory and introduced a course in space technology electronics the following year. Seventeen students worked on the satellite’s hardware and software and helped prepare it for testing. In December 2022, the spacecraft underwent thermal-vacuum and mechanical testing at Kazakhstan’s National Space Center. Specialists from Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary, Kazakhstan’s national space company, and Ghalam, a Kazakh-French spacecraft joint venture, also participated in the project. Unlike Kyrgyzstan’s Earth-observation satellite, NIS PocketQube is primarily an educational project. NIS says a ground station will be installed to receive and process telemetry, giving students across Kazakhstan access to the data for research and engineering projects. Kazakhstan already operates communications and Earth-observation satellites. By 2030, the country plans to establish an international Earth-observation constellation of nine satellites: six from Kazakhstan and one each from Mongolia, the Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria.

Space Programs

Kyrgyzstan’s First Satellite to Launch Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

Kyrgyzstan plans to send its first national satellite into low Earth orbit on October 1. The roughly five-kilogram spacecraft, developed over about two and a half years, is due to launch from California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. President Sadyr Japarov has arrived in Los Angeles to attend events marking the launch, Kabar reported on October 1, citing the presidential administration. SpaceX is targeting October 1 for its Transporter-18 mission, a dedicated rideshare launch for small satellites, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The 58-minute launch window opens at 11:18 a.m. Pacific Time, or 12:18 a.m. on October 2 in Bishkek. A backup opportunity is available the following day. Falcon 9 is scheduled to carry 130 payloads, including CubeSats and microsatellites. Under SpaceX’s rideshare model, several customers share capacity on the same rocket, making access to low Earth orbit more affordable for smaller countries. SpaceX does not separately name the Kyrgyz spacecraft in its published launch description. The satellite, equipped with high-resolution cameras, was unveiled on September 24 at the Lenin Plant in Bishkek. About 10 Kyrgyz engineers worked on the spacecraft, which is estimated to have cost 10–12 million soms, or approximately $115,000–140,000. Ilya Cherny, director of Kyrgyz Electronics, previously said that most of the technologies used were Russian. Developing all of the satellite’s systems from scratch, he said, would have taken considerably longer. The project also involves state-owned Kyrgyz Asman, which Kyrgyz authorities describe as the company responsible for developing and assembling the spacecraft. The satellite is intended for Earth observation. Its imagery is expected to be used to monitor crops and pastures for signs of drought and assess the effects of natural disasters. For mountainous Kyrgyzstan, satellite data are particularly important for monitoring water resources and glaciers because mountain rivers provide irrigation for farmland and feed the country’s hydropower system. Having its own spacecraft would give Kyrgyzstan an additional source of data on areas that are difficult to monitor from the ground. The developers say Kyrgyzstan may eventually need four or five satellites to meet these monitoring needs. Kazakhstan already operates communications and Earth-observation satellites, while Uzbekistan is also expanding its space program. In August, a Chinese-built satellite named Samarkand-2028 entered orbit carrying an artificial intelligence module developed by Uzbek engineers. Uzbekcosmos, the country’s space agency, has stressed that the spacecraft is not Uzbekistan’s national satellite. Uzbek engineers are separately working on the 6U-format Mirzo Ulugbek scientific satellite, which is planned for launch in 2028.

Satellites

Kyrgyzstan Prepares to Launch Its First Homegrown Satellite

Kyrgyzstan plans to launch its first domestically developed and assembled satellite in early October, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The spacecraft is intended to collect imagery of farmland, pastures, glaciers, and water resources. The Agriculture Ministry plans to use the data to assess crop conditions and yields, detect drought, and monitor water resources. The satellite has been under development for about two and a half years. Final preparations are underway in Bishkek, including assembling its main components, installing electronic equipment, and testing the system. The launch is scheduled to take place from California during the first week of October. Kyrgyz media have reported October 1 as the planned launch date. The project is being carried out by the state-owned company Kyrgyz Asman. It was established in 2026 under the name Kyrgyz Sputnik and renamed in June. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that the company was created to develop the use of satellite technologies and data in agriculture and natural resource management. The company is to be based in Karakol in the Issyk-Kul region. The imagery is also expected to help assess areas affected by emergencies. For Kyrgyzstan, one of the most obvious applications of such imagery is water management. Mountain glaciers feed the rivers on which agricultural irrigation depends, while satellite observation makes it possible to regularly track changes across large and difficult-to-access areas. Similar projects are emerging elsewhere in Central Asia. In August, the Chinese-built Samarkand-2028 hyperspectral Earth observation satellite was launched carrying an artificial intelligence module developed by specialists from Uzbekistan’s Uzbekcosmos space agency. The data obtained from the satellite is expected to be used for agriculture, environmental monitoring, water and natural resource management, and other applications. Samarkand-2028 was built by China’s STAR.VISION Aerospace. Uzbekistan’s own scientific satellite, Mirzo Ulugbek, is being developed by a team of seven Uzbek engineers undergoing training at Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology. Its launch is planned for 2028.

Baikonur Cosmodrome

Space Days Kazakhstan Highlights Push Beyond Baikonur

Kazakhstan is home to Baikonur, the cosmodrome from which the Space Age began, but the country has spent three decades trying to turn that Soviet inheritance into a space sector of its own. At Space Days Kazakhstan, held on September 7–9 in Astana and Baikonur, Kazakhstan presented new satellite projects and plans for international cooperation. A day later, talks with China were announced on a separate five-satellite network for Central Asia. By 2030, Astana plans to assemble an international constellation of nine Earth-observation satellites, six of them Kazakh. The country is also upgrading its national satellite communications system, developing new Earth-observation spacecraft at home, and expanding cooperation with China and other partners. Kazakhstan still relies heavily on Russia at Baikonur, and many of its newer projects depend on foreign technology and cooperation. Nevertheless, Astana is seeking greater control over the infrastructure and spacecraft on its own territory while widening the number of countries it works with. Taking More Control at Baikonur One of the clearest examples of Kazakhstan’s attempt to gain more control over its space sector is Baiterek, a joint project with Russia that dates back to 2004. The original agreement called for a new launch complex at Baikonur. But the project spent much of the next two decades being redesigned as Russia changed the rocket it planned to use. Baiterek was first intended for the Angara rocket, then Zenit, and finally Soyuz-5, known in Kazakhstan as Sunkar. Each change brought further delays. After launch targets in 2023, 2024, and 2025 slipped, Soyuz-5 finally lifted off from Baikonur on April 30, 2026. The rocket carried a dummy payload on the first flight in the test program. The launch mattered less for what it carried than for what it represented. Kazakhstan now operates the launch pad and ground infrastructure used by Baiterek, giving it a larger role at a cosmodrome long dominated by Russia. But Russia still builds the rocket. That reflects the wider relationship at Baikonur. The cosmodrome remained on Kazakh territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but Russia leases it through 2050 for $115 million a year and continues to use it for its human spaceflight program. In July 2026, Baikonur was again used for an international mission to the ISS. Kazakhstan is therefore not replacing Russia at Baikonur. It is trying to take a larger role in a space complex where Russia remains deeply embedded. But launch infrastructure is only one part of Kazakhstan’s attempt to develop capabilities of its own. Increasingly, the focus is on satellites. Building Satellites at Home KazSat is the country’s national satellite communications and broadcasting system. KazSat-3 currently provides data transmission, television, and other communications services. Its planned operating life ends in late 2029. KazSat-3R is being developed as its replacement. The national operator, the Republican Center for Space Communication, invited more than 40 spacecraft manufacturers to participate in the selection process. Fourteen companies responded: two from Kazakhstan and twelve from abroad. The operator plans to cover more than half...

Space Technology

Uzbekistan’s AI Module Reaches Orbit Aboard Samarqand-2028 Satellite

A Chinese-built Earth observation satellite carrying artificial intelligence developed by Uzbek specialists was launched from a sea platform off China’s Shandong province on August 5. The Samarqand-2028 satellite was launched alongside Lampung-1, another Earth observation satellite from China’s STAR.VISION Aerospace. A livestream showed the rocket lifting off from the platform. STAR.VISION developed Samarqand-2028, while specialists from Uzbekistan’s national space agency, Uzbekcosmos, created its onboard AI module. Uzbekcosmos said this was the first time Uzbek specialists had participated in developing artificial intelligence for a satellite. Samarqand-2028 carries a hyperspectral sensor that records reflected light in 22 wavelength bands. A conventional color image records visible light in only three broad bands, while the additional bands can reveal details difficult to see with the human eye. Uzbekcosmos plans to use the images to create national maps of cotton and wheat cultivation and make initial assessments of air quality. As The Times of Central Asia reported on August 4, processing images onboard the satellite could reduce the amount of data transmitted to Earth and allow useful information to reach officials more quickly. Samarqand-2028 is separate from Uzbekistan’s first national scientific satellite, Mirzo Ulugbek. Seven Uzbek engineers studying at Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan have begun developing the 6U satellite, which is scheduled for launch in 2028. The program is intended to train specialists and establish a domestic satellite engineering team. The next stage will be commissioning Samarqand-2028 and testing whether its AI module functions as intended in orbit. Its practical value will depend on whether Uzbek institutions can convert the imagery into useful information for agriculture and environmental monitoring.