“No Need for Concern, We Have a Good Satellite”, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry on Armsat-1

The control center for the Armenian satellite is ready to operate, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry waits for the construction of the receiving station, the Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry of Armenia, Avet Poghosyan, reported in an interview with Alpha News.

He also commented on several topics regarding the Armenian satellite, and noted that Armsat-1 is intended for the Earth surveillance rather than space surveillance since it is a low-orbiting satellite.

“Scheduled programs will be completed within the planned time frame. The satellite is currently in space and is operating, by the end of the year we will have a five-year strategy of space activities”, Avet Poghosyan told Alpha News.

On May 25, Armenia suddenly announced the launch of the first Armenian satellite Armsat-1 into the outer space from the spaceship SpaceX. The announcement provoked discussions on media and Internet whether the satellite actually existed or Armenia rent it from the Spanish company Satlantis. The launch of the first Armenian satellite did not impress the research community.

Some believed that it was a student project which had a function of the big photodevice. Later, the absence of the control center for the satellite which should provide the feedback and data exchange cast more doubts. According to the Deputy Minister, the Armenian satellite Armsat-1 is a low-orbiting satellite intended for the Earth surveillance. Optical and other devices of the satellite directed to Earth rather than space.

“These satellites are widely used in agriculture, road building, cadastral mapping and in the security sector. There is no need for concern. We have a fairly good satellite, we have fairly good data and we will have more in the future”, the deputy minister noted.

It should be mentioned that, back in 2019, the government adopted legal regulations regarding space industry before the release of Armsat-1.

“The government of the Republic of Armenia adopted a completely new law about space with modifications in seven related laws. The law entered into force in 2020”, Avet Poghosyan noted.

He also added that Armenian space organizations were provided with tax benefits due to these modifications.

The Earth observation satellites industry has been rapidly developing since 2010s. According to the Deputy Minister, space industry is liberalized across the world, with SpaceX being a vivid example.
Poghosyan noted that, in 2019, when Armenia regulated space industry, 3500 satellites operated the orbit. Now the number grew to 9000, with the majority being Earth observation satellites, just like the Armenian Armsat-1.

“Many years ago, Türkiye started investing the industry, Azerbaijan also had a few successful attempts. Our neighboring Georgia, however, does not have such a satellite”, Avet Poghosyan said.