From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Feb 05 2001 - 10:56:22 EST
Kazakh defence conversion programme moves into space
Text of report by Kazakh Khabar TV on 3 February
[Presenter] We continue our series of special reports from Saryshagan
[Karaganda Region, central Kazakhstan]. This time Sergey Ponomarev reports
on the work of scientists at the anti-missile range.
[Correspondent, over video of barbed-wire fences, arrays, satellites in
orbit] After the Russian servicemen left in 1994, the lion's share of the
missile technology at Saryshagan anti-missile range was decommissioned.
Kazakhstan's science managed to keep part of the expensive equipment and
take it over. The National Radioelectronics and Communications Centre uses
space technology for the purposes of [defence] conversion. A satellite in
geostationary orbit at a distance of up to 40,000 km carries out ground
space observations. A (?coupled) electron telescope enables photographs of
space to be taken from the Earth. The object being studied stands out
because it gleams, and what is more, space junk is not the only thing that
can be made out: spy satellites hovering over Kazakhstan which are not
registered in international catalogues can also be distinguished.
[Bolat Baysugurov, captioned as head of the Astrological Observations
Laboratory at the Radioelectronics Institute, speaking to camera against
background of telescope control panels] Kazakhstan needs to monitor not
only the air space above its territory but also near-Earth space, that is
near space, to know what there is there and where it is, and we also need
to try and find out what it is doing there.
[Correspondent, over video of men looking at computer screens displaying
satellite images] The second area of the scientists' work is remote sensing
of the Earth. A special facility enables photographs received from the
Russian space satellite Resurs-01 to be downloaded daily.
[Aleksandr Kuzmin, captioned as senior researcher at the Remote Sensing
Laboratory at the Readioelectronics Institute] The satellite moves
constantly at a height of 660 km. As it does so, it photographs the Earth's
surface, that is, every day we can obtain up-to-date data about the
territory of Kazakhstan.
[Correspondent] Today there is already enough information in the data bank
that oilmen, ecologists and power engineers need.
[Abdel Kipshakbayev, captioned as managing director of the National
Radioelectronics and Communications Centre] At the moment we are working
with a resolution of up to 35 metres on the Earth's surface, in the future
we are expecting up to five metres of resolution.
[Correspondent] What does that mean?
[Kipshakbayev] That means that currently we can identify from space
individual objects on the ground at a distance of no less than 35 metres
[that is, objects 35m in size can be separated or resolved using the
images]. We get up-to-date information about forest fires. For instance,
our institute was able to monitor minute by minute what was happening when
ribbon plantations were burning in Semipalatinsk Region [northeastern
Kazakhstan].
[Correspondent] The Institute of the National Radioelectronics and
Communications Centre is today one of the main employers in military
Priozersk. Here they are also expanding work in the interests of the
integrated defence space of the CIS countries.
Source: Khabar TV, Almaty, in Russian 1200 gmt 3 Feb 01
BBC Mon CAU 040201/** ak/va
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