Ukraine, U.S. sign memo on space flight safety

KYIV. Sept 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The State Space Agency of Ukraine and the U.S. Department of Defense have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of space flight safety and the provision of services and information on space situational awareness, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has reported.

The document determines the mutual interest of the parties and the desire to expand cooperation in the use of outer space.

"The memorandum creates a legal basis and mechanisms for the joint use of space situational awareness in order to improve the safety of space flights, the exchange of services and information," the ministry said.

The memorandum will make it possible to obtain system information on the state of the general near-earth space situation, the current state of space activities of the world countries.

The document will create conditions for obtaining specific systemic information in the space sphere for Ukrainian specialists of state and military authorities, the space agency of Ukraine, scientists and other workers.

This will make it possible to identify operating spacecraft in all available open resources and simulate their orbital flight, explore their functionality, and form domestic catalogs of space objects.

As reported, the draft memorandum was agreed in March 2021 at the talks between Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine Volodymyr Taftay and representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.