Launched in secret: Armenia's first satellite joins Earth orbit

JAMnews

Yerevan

Armenia’s first satellite in space

On May 26, during a government meeting, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia’s first satellite of Armenia had been launched into space:

“On May 25, 2022, at 22:35 Yerevan time, the first satellite of the Republic of Armenia was launched into orbit from the space station at Cape Canaveral, USA”.

When the satellite was launched, Minister of High-Tech Industry Robert Khachatryan and Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts were on site.

According to the prime minister, “all decisions on the launch of the satellite were made secretly, due to certain considerations”. Its launch became possible as a result of cooperation between the Armenian state institution “Geocosmos” and the Spanish company “Satlantis”.

According to Pashinyan, Armenia is entering an “era of space activity”:

“We hope that our rich traditions in this area will be restored. I mean the space research and production sector, which has existed in Armenia for many years”.

According to him, the localization of space technologies in Armenia, as well as the organization of the production of space instruments are the priority of his cabinet.

The satellite control center and receiving station will be established by the end of 2023. It is planned that the receiving station will provide services for receiving and transmitting data to other satellite operators.

“Satellite photographs will be used in Armenia for border control, emergency prevention, governance, environmental protection, including climate change monitoring, as well as in urban planning, road construction, geology and other areas”, the Prime Minister said.

Photos from the Armenian government’s Facebook page