Russia and Australia are strengthening their co-operation on the exploration and use of outer space, the head of the international cooperation department at the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Alexei Korostelev, told Itar-Tass in an interview.

 

Russia and Australia signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in exploration and peaceful uses of outer space back in 2001.

 

“We are currently working on a memorandum on support for a project to build differential corrections and monitoring stations of the global navigation space system (GLONASS) near the Australian city of Brisbane,” Korostelev said.

 

Korostelev also said that he recently signed off on a project for a joint international airspace monitoring system.

 

“The document was signed by the Russian committee for the promotion of this project, and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,” he said.

 

“Several other Australian research organizations are considering the possibility of joining this system. We intend to build our relations with Australia on the basis of mutual interest and commercial benefits,” he added.

 

Australian organisations may also participate in other Russian scientific programs, such as putting Australian materials processing equipment on board the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

 

“On the other hand we have presented our proposals for cooperation in the remote sensing of the Earth, creation of a mission control centre in Australia, and creation of an optical tracking station to monitor space objects, especially space debris in near-earth orbits, and to issue early warnings of risks of emergencies resulting from the collision of space objects. All these projects are being considered by the Australian side,” said Korostelev.