BRICS Countries Launch Joint Committee To Further Space Cooperation

The BRICS countries have launched a joint committee aimed at enhancing cooperation and enabling the space agencies of the member countries to work together more closely in the remote sensing satellite observation and data sharing fields.

The Joint Committee on Space Cooperation was officially launched by the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa –
on Wednesday.

Zhang Kejian, the head of the China National Space Administration, said at the committee's first virtual meeting on Wednesday that it will guide cooperation on the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation to better serve economic and social development among the member countries.

Zhang said that the new joint committee will enable BRICS space agencies to work together when it comes to environmental protection, disaster prevention and mitigation, and tackling climate change with efficient data sharing and utilisation, the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

At the meeting, space agencies from the five-member countries reviewed and adopted documents on the joint committee's terms of reference, the technical specifications for data exchange, and the implementation procedures for joint observation.

In August last year, the five space agencies signed an agreement on the Cooperation on BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation.

The constellation is made up of six existing satellites: Gaofen-6 and Ziyuan III 02, both developed by China, CBERS-4, jointly developed by Brazil and China, Kanopus-V type, developed by Russia, and Resourcesat-2 and 2A, both developed by India, the report said.

China heads this year's chair of the five-member bloc.