Minsk hosts 31st International Space Congress

Today the Belarusian capital has become a world space center. Minsk hosts the 31st International Congress of the Association of Space Flight Participants. The event is significant, ambitious, authoritative. More than 80 cosmonauts and astronauts fr om 17 countries participate in it, as well as scientists, researchers, diplomats, heads of state administration bodies, representatives of public organizations, educational institutions and branch enterprises. The President of Belarus took part in the opening ceremony of the forum.

The choice of Minsk as a platform for the large dialogue confirms recognition by the international community of the successes of Belarus in the space sphere.

As noted by the Head of State, the names of Belarusian scientists and cosmonauts are inscribed in the history of the space era. The space industry of our country is also developing confidently.

Today the Association includes 4 hundred conquerors of space from 4 dozens of countries. This is the elite division, wh ere Belarus is not the last country.

As a community of practitioners, the Association promotes three main goals. The first one is international research - from security to spacecraft compatibility. The second direction of activity is education. The third goal is the struggle for ecology.

Today there are 90 space powers in the world, Belarus is among them. We have only two satellites so far. But, in the language of astronautics it is a space grouping, with its MCC, fundamental and applied science, technical school and plans for further peaceful exploration of outer space. The Belarusian space drags dozens of adjacent spheres upwards, for example, the sphere of new materials, nano-structures, communication, prevention and minimization of disasters, satellite-controlled harvesters, cartography and ecology. And still this is not a complete list. For example, there are only two leading manufacturers of cosmic mirrors with high smoothness in the world: in the USA and in Belarus.

The Belarusian Space Congress is not only work, but also an attempt of the guests to understand the soul of the Belarusian people, to assess the country.

Very emotional words of our Hero of the Soviet Union Pyotr Klimuk sounded at the Congress. He mostly spoke about the Small Motherland.

At the end of his speech an invaluable gift was made to the President: Small Motherland painted by the hand of cosmonaut-painter Alexei Leonov. Unfortunately, he is ill, but his view of the world and his position remained in the hall. That was the decision of the Head of State.