Mkhitar Hayrapetyan: The way Armenia uses satellite images does not  concern our Spanish partners

ArmInfo. Armenia has used state funds not only to purchase the satellite, but also to construct  a ground station and provide training for specialists. This was stated by Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, the Minister of High-Tech Industry of Armenia, during a press conference. "In addition to this, there were no extra expenses," he noted.

According to the minister, a large volume of satellite images has  been received over the past two years.  However, Hayrapetyan noted  that he does not intend to answer, now or in the future, for what  purposes these images were used. In this regard, he considered it  inappropriate for the Spanish company (SATLANTIS - ed.) from which  Armenia purchased the satellite and which carried out the management  at the first stage to be informed of the purposes the images are used  for. Additionally, he expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that  the company gives interviews to Armenian media outlets, where they  express their assessments. In this regard, the head of the department  called on the Spanish partners to maintain the nature of the  partnership and stay within the scopes of their mandates.   Hayrapetyan noted that  acquiring the satellite marks Armenia's first  steps in the space sector, allowing  the country to establish skills  and knowledge in the field.

He also noted that, starting in 2024, the satellite will be under  Armenian management. "This means that we have developed the necessary  competencies within our country to attract relevant investments in  this area in the future," he said.

Let us recall that on May 25, 2022, the first Armenian satellite  (working name - ARMSAT_1) was successfully launched from Cape  Canaveral into low Earth orbit. The launch was organized by the  Spanish company SATLANTIS. On June 6, SATLANTIS announced the  conclusion of a contract to supply a complete Earth observation  system to the Armenian subsidiary of the RA Ministry of High-Tech  Industry, Geocosmos.