Training of Belarusian cosmonauts and prospects: what Novitsky asked Lukashenko for and what the President promised him
Further prospects for the development of the Belarusian cosmonautics will be discussed after the completion of the joint Russian-Belarusian project on a short-term space flight of a Belarusian citizen to the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) – as noted by the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, during today’s video conference call with the ISS-71/VE-21 main crew members: Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya
Addressing Oleg Novitsky, the Head of State noted that upon the return of the crew to Belarus, further prospects would have to be discussed, “We need to talk about the prospects. They should be; maybe, more than just another flight.”
“They definitely should be. It’s all God’s will and our health,” the cosmonaut agreed.
“If you feel good, I will ask the Russians to let the three of you to fly: Nastya [Anastasia Lenkova – Marina Vasilevskaya’s backup cosmonaut], Marina and you. You don’t mind, right?” the President asked.
“Sounds good, with pleasure! We will complete any task,” Oleg Novitsky supported the idea.
The Belarusian leader promised that he would discuss these issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting. In turn, Oleg Novitsky voiced a proposal to think about allowing Belarusians to participate in training for space flights at a high, professional level.
Aleksandr Lukashenko is confident that the Russian side will support such an initiative, “You mean Russia could train Belarusians alongside Russians, in the same way, right? They will agree. They really liked our girls (I know this from reviews, as I’m interested in the issue) in terms of preparation: they are very responsible and master the programme easily. I promise I’ll talk it over.”
As for the financing, the President believes that these issues can also be settled jointly.
The Head of State added that Belarus has a number of industrial and scientific enterprises in the space industry that manufacture advanced products, including those which significantly progressed in the production of satellites, “When the sanctions were introduced, they [in the West] thought that we would collapse. It turned out that we are in demand, especially in the Russian space industry. Now the demand is very high from the space segment. The specialists are meeting halfway.”
The Belarusian leader especially thanked Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov, who – according to Aleksandr Lukashenko – responded to all the President’s requests, “We will come to an agreement with the Russians. The main thing is that you [the cosmonauts] have a desire to work together!”
“I have a great desire, Aleksandr Grigorievich!” assured Oleg Novitsky.
