ALL OF SPACE

The 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which recently ended in Baku, was a new milestone in the development of Azerbaijan's national space industry. This large-scale forum combined numerous conferences, technical sessions and an exhibition, providing ample opportunities for the representatives of leading space agencies, investors and private companies to discuss the prospects of space exploration, construction of the International Scientific Lunar Station, etc. Azerbaijan will take part in a number of these projects. During the forum, the Azerbaijan Space Agency (Azercosmos) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed an agreement on the implementation of the Azersky-2 programme to develop two remote Earth observation satellites.

Second time in Baku

"It is a great honour for us to host such an important event of global scale, with over five thousand participants from more than one hundred countries. Azerbaijan became a member of the global space club more than a decade ago. Now, with two telecommunications satellites and one Earth observation satellite, we continue our efforts to develop the space industry in Azerbaijan. These satellites are operated by Azerbaijani specialists and provide services to 45 countries of the world, including Azerbaijan," President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony of the 74th International Astronautics Congress. He underlined that holding the congress in Baku will certainly boost the development of the space industry, develop and upgrade the high-tech and innovative sectors in the country.

The history of astronautics forums goes back more than seven decades. IAC congresses are an annual gathering of scientists, astronautics specialists with the participation of heads of national space agencies, usually held in late September or early October. Organisers are traditionally the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the Academy of Astronautics and the Institute of Space Law, with one of the IAF's national members as host. The first congress was launched on September 30, 1950 in Paris. For three decades, all forums were held exclusively in European or American cities.

The only exception at that time was the organisation of the IAC Congress in the capital of the then Soviet Azerbaijan. The selection of Baku was a unique event for the USSR. It became the first Asian city to host such a prestigious world-class event. It was largely inspired by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev. So the 24th International Astronautics Congress was held in Baku on October 7-13, 1973 under the motto Space Research—Penetration of Science and Technology.

Half-century later Baku won the right to host the event again. The decision was taken in October 2019 at the General Assembly of the International Astronautical Federation in Washington, DC.

The 74th Congress Global Challenges and Opportunities: Give Space a Chance organised by IAF and Azerkosmos was attended by the representatives of space agencies, investors, private space companies, local and international media from 101 countries. It included a series of specialised conferences and technical sessions. The exhibition organised hereby demonstrated projects and technologies of 150 world leading companies operating in the field of space research and high technologies.

"Today, the International Astronautical Federation has 468 members from 75 countries. This number will soon reach 500. IAF works hard to promote the economic, social, political and scientific value of space, to make decision-makers aware of these benefits. Through congresses, conferences, publications and research, we are gaining a deeper knowledge of space technology and its applications in everyday life. By supporting investment in innovation, IAF encourages global organisations to connect, collaborate and further develop scientific and technical knowledge in their countries," IAF President Clay Mowry said at the opening of the forum. He emphasised that the federation's current agenda focuses on three themes: sustainability, investment and security. He also noted that such a high level of representation by countries and organisations in Baku is a very important factor: "The role of the IAC congress today is even more important for uniting the entire space community in such a complex geopolitical period".

Azerbaijani satellite

As one of the member states of the international space club, Azerbaijan has been very productive in developing its orbital potential since the launch of two communication satellites - Azerspace-1 and Azerspace-2. Today the national operator Azerkosmos generates more than 80% of its revenues by providing services on the foreign market. Local communication satellites are used for TV and radio broadcasting, as well as for the provision of Internet services. The total audience of users is about 20 million people in 45 countries of Europe, CIS, Asia and Africa.

In 2023, the Space Agency of Azerbaijan announced plans to expand the orbital group of its spacecraft. It became possible thanks to necessary prerequisites created by the IAF congress in Baku. Thus, Azerkosmos and Israel Aerospace Industries signed an agreement to develop new low-orbit satellites. According to the agreement, it is planned to produce two remote Earth observation satellites with high-resolution electro-optical sensors. IAI will design, assemble, integrate and test the first satellite with the participation of Azerbaijani specialists. Israeli experts will also support Azerkosmos in designing the satellite development centre. Based on this experience, Azerbaijani specialists will be able to manufacture the second satellite in Azerbaijan. IAI will provide all the necessary equipment for ground control and operation systems. Optical satellites are expected to be launched in 2026 and 2028. As for the launch vehicle to put them into orbit, the selection of an international company will take place in the coming months.

"The project is unique for both Azerkosmos and Israel Aerospace Industries. It will undoubtedly contribute to the development of co-operation between our countries in the space. Our co-operation is an important step in the development of human capital and space technologies in Azerbaijan," Samaddin Asadov, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Space Agency, said.

Connections of Israel with internationally recognised high-tech companies specialised in satellite manufacturing is extremely important for Azerbaijan in terms of technology transfer, access to know-how and advanced knowledge. On the other hand, this will contribute to ensuring greater reliability of satellites, their safety and a long period of orbital deployment. Considering that optical satellites are regarded as dual-purpose spacecraft to ensure defence security of the country, this is of great importance.

The first low-orbit optical satellite Azersky failed due to unspecified technical problems in April 2023. Despite repeated attempts by the manufacturer and operators, it was impossible to re-establish communication with the satellite.

Diversified co-operation

Azerbaijan continues to diversify its potential for launching the satellites, which previously has depended on France only. Thus, in May 2023 Azerkosmos and the American corporation SpaceX signed a memorandum of co-operation. This will make it possible to provide Starlink broadband satellite Internet services in Azerbaijan as well. The study is underway to identify the possibility of launching new Azerbaijani satellites by Falcon rockets of the same company. American entrepreneur and founder of companies Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk, with whom Azercosmos has recently co-operated, also joined the Baku congress online.

Another important outcome of the IAC 2023 Congress was the expansion of the partnership between the Azerbaijan Space Agency and the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). On October 5, the parties signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange knowledge and experience on space technologies. According to Vugar Bayramov, advisor to Azerkosmos chairman on international relations, Brazil is currently one of the developed countries in the development of satellite technologies. In 2004, the first launch of a Brazilian-designed launch vehicle took place from the Alcantara space site. Subsequently, the country provided several more suborbital flights of the VSB-30 high-altitude rocket of the Sonda family.

Azerkosmos is also establishing a successful partnership with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). "JAXA is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan as part of the Artemis international space programme. We would like and are ready to establish partnership relations, which will allow us to expand our joint participation in space research and development," JAXA's president Hiroshi Yamakawa said at the forum.

Azerbaijan joined the joint Russian-Chinese project for the construction of the International Scientific Lunar Station. A relevant agreement was signed between Azerkosmos and the China National Space Administration. Along with Azerbaijan, other participants of the project include Russia, Pakistan, the UAE, South Africa, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation and the Swiss company Nano-SPACE.

The IAC 2023 Congress once again confirmed the very promising and mutually beneficial Azerbaijani-Turkish co-operation in the field of space research and development of core technologies. "Holding the International Astronautics Congress in Azerbaijan is a great pride for all of us: the stands of Turkish companies Rocketsan and Aselsan are presented at the exhibition, and our space research organisation also takes part in the congress," said Selcuk Bayraktar, technical director of Turkish company Baykar. He emphasised that Baku and Ankara plan to consistently develop partnership in space.

In recent years, Azerkosmos has been expanding regional cooperation to share experience and knowledge in building space infrastructure, establishing scientific centres, implementing research programmes, and introducing technologies and innovations. The development of a space hub in Azerbaijan is carried out jointly with Türkiye and other member countries of the Organisation of Turkic States. In particular, Azerkosmos has signed memorandums with the space agencies of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan is also strengthening partnership with Kyrgyzstan for training and professional development of relevant personnel, implementation of projects in space technologies, etc.

Thus, not only the IAC 2023 confirmed Azerbaijan's image as a skilful organiser of such high-level events, but also complemented the country's space projects with many new and useful agreements.