The Agency of "Uzbekcosmos"

At the initiative of the Head of our state, the Uzbekcosmos agency, operating in the field of space research and technology in Uzbekistan since 2019, also carried out a lot of fruitful work in 2024.

The state space monitoring system, using aerospace technologies, analyzed such areas as ecology, geology, agriculture, land relations, water management and forestry, and identified more than 100 thousand potential violations.

In particular, the Center for Space Monitoring and Geoinformation Technologies created by the agency identified 96,312 buildings and structures throughout the republic with a total area of about 9,200 hectares, which are highly likely to have been erected illegally.

Also, as a result of processing space images in the geological direction, 2,426 illegal quarries and 2,543 hectares of land where minerals are mined were identified in the republic. Of these, 1,433 or 1,442 hectares are due to unauthorized mining, 390 or 440.5 hectares are due to violations of boundaries and deviations from the design contours provided for by the contract, and 603 or 660.3 hectares are due to illegal mining in river water protection zones.

In addition, state space monitoring revealed the presence of 1,928 unauthorized dumps on an area of about 721 hectares in 12 ecological regions. Of these, 123, or 255.5 hectares, are considered dumps that extend beyond the boundaries of landfills, and 1,805, or 465.3 hectares, are considered illegal dumps.

It is important to note that the creation of such illegal dumps has a significant negative impact on the environment and ecology, leading to deterioration in the quality of soil, water and air. In addition, this leads to an increase in the number of harmful insects, an increase in infectious diseases, the development of lung cancer and respiratory diseases in humans.

Also, in order to identify and prevent damage to the environment and soil fertility, the Uzbekcosmos agency in June-July 2024 in the Surkhandarya, Tashkent, Andijan, Jizzakh, Namangan, Samarkand, Fergana and Kashkadarya regions through space monitoring identified a total of 2,266 cases of burning straw and crop residues on an area of 31,483.2 hectares cleared of grain crops.

Another important area is agriculture. In 2024, according to space monitoring data conducted in the Fergana, Andijan, Namangan, Tashkent, Jizzakh, Samarkand, Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions, 967 thousand hectares of wheat and 597 thousand hectares of cotton were recorded. 

At the same time, in order to control the efficient use of fertile lands, it was noted that in January-October, 56,521 hectares of unused arable land were recorded in the above-mentioned 8 regions. In addition, during the monitoring, 27,266 cases of use of reserve lands with a total area of 86,107 hectares in 8 regions were identified.

Also, the analysis of space monitoring conducted in the forestry sector in 2024 yielded the following results. In particular, it was found that in the Andijan, Fergana, Namangan, Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Jizzakh, Syrdarya and Surkhandarya regions, the total area of forest cover is 671,860 hectares, and on the lands of the forest fund of the regions - about 391,192 hectares.

The last and most important area of ​​state space monitoring is, of course, water resources management. In 2024, work was carried out to monitor the dynamics of filling reservoirs with turbid runoff and the level regime at 35 reservoirs, as well as to identify cases of illegal construction of buildings and structures in water protection zones. According to him, space monitoring was carried out at 35 reservoirs, as a result of which 122 highly probable unauthorized buildings with a total area of 6.76 hectares were identified in their water protection zones.

The activities of Uzbekcosmos during 2024 were filled with many bright events and incidents, news, historical decisions and changes. That is, 1 Law, 1 Decree and the corresponding Government Resolution were adopted, which are directly related to the activities of the agency. Senators also approved another law.

In particular, Uzbekistan became the 115th state to join the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, signed by the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union on January 27, 1967. The adoption of this law opened up the opportunity for our country to explore and use outer space, have free access to all its areas, as well as participate in international space projects, exchange resources and knowledge. Another important document was the Law on Space Activities, approved by senators. It defines the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Digital Technologies and its Agency for Space Research and Technology, as well as the Ministry of Defense in the field of space activities. It was assumed that one of the main areas of state policy is to facilitate the detection of offenses in economic sectors through the processing of space images. 

At the same time, in 2024, a special Decree "On measures to introduce aerospace technologies in the economic sector in 2024-2026" was signed, which serves the further development and improvement of the State Space Monitoring System, introduced by the Uzbekcosmos Agency on the initiative of the President. It defines the priority areas and program of state space monitoring. In particular, tasks were set to identify cases of unauthorized seizure of land plots and construction of buildings and structures on them, determining the boundaries of forest areas and monitoring their condition, identifying cases of unauthorized use of subsoil in the field of geology, identifying cases of unjustified and other use of territories with mineral deposits, identifying cases of overuse of existing waste storage areas, identifying newly emerging areas of illegal waste disposal, monitoring the filling of reservoirs with turbid wastewater, studying the water level regime and the efficiency of agricultural land use, determining the types of cultivated crops and the volumes of water consumption.

In addition, in 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted a resolution "On the implementation of a continuous radar space monitoring system for seismic resistance of reservoir dams". A continuous radar space monitoring system for seismic resistance of reservoir dams will be implemented. That is, the dynamics of displacement and subsidence of "dams" will be taken under space control by the Uzbekcosmos agency. The results of the monitoring will be integrated into the electronic platform "Conducting seismological observations on reservoirs".

In addition, during 2024, representatives of the Uzbekcosmos agency took part in many major conferences and summits, exhibitions and congresses, reaching mutually beneficial agreements. In particular, memorandums of understanding, agreements and contracts were signed with a number of partners, including the Institute of Aerospace Information Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Geotwo, the Japanese companies Synspective and iSpace, the Kyushu Institute of Technology, the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of Central Asia, the Azerbaijan Space Agency, and the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey. 

In addition, one of the most important events was the fifth meeting of the CIS Interstate Space Council, which took place in Tashkent. It was attended by representatives of the Roscosmos State Corporation of the Russian Federation, aerospace industry specialists from the National Academies of Sciences of the Republics of Belarus and Tajikistan, the leadership of the Aerospace Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and space industry specialists from the Republic of Armenia.

At the same time, agency representatives also took part in the 67th meeting of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, the Esri Developer Summit — 2024 and Satellite — 2024 conferences in Beijing (PRC, USA), a meeting of representatives of space organizations of Turkic-speaking countries in Astana and Ankara, the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan (Italy), seminars in Deqing (PRC), Bangkok (Thailand) and Jakarta (Indonesia).

In 2024, the Uzbekcosmos Agency held the World Space Week in Uzbekistan for the first time. Within its framework, many large projects were implemented, in particular, a special exhibition dedicated to the history of space in the Tashkent City Mall shopping and entertainment center, various interactive show games, competitions and quizzes from the Sky Park complex for children, open lessons, talks, presentations on the theme of World Space Week in comprehensive schools, academic lyceums and universities throughout the republic and a number of other projects.

During 2024, the Uzbekcosmos Agency also carried out effective work in the field of space education and personnel training. In particular, a special Educational and Laboratory Center was created at INHA University in Tashkent. In addition, memorandums of understanding on cooperation in the field of space research and technology, innovation and startups were signed with the National Research University "Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers" and PDP University.

Another significant point is that with the support of the Uzbekcosmos Agency in 2024, 10 young people were sent to study at universities in the UK and the USA on bachelor's and master's degree programs as scholarship holders of the El-Yurt Umidi Foundation. 

In order to further increase the interest of young people in astronautics and engineering, this year the Uzbekcosmos agency sent 10 talented schoolchildren to the GUHEM Space and Aviation Center in Bursa, Turkey. There, young people took part in more than 150 interactive sessions and got acquainted with simulators of space satellites and aviation systems.

At the same time, as part of the World Space Week, the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 hackathon was held jointly with the Uzbekcosmos and NASA agencies. About 200 young people, divided into more than 40 teams, developed their own solutions and creative projects on 30 relevant topics provided by NASA. It should be noted that more than 180,000 young people from more than 160 countries take part in the NASA Space Apps Challenge competition every year.

In addition, in 2024, the CanSat project was implemented at the Yangi-Khayet airfield in the Orta-Chirchik district of the Tashkent region with the participation of university students and schoolchildren. That is, the 120 young inventors who gathered launched mini-satellites they developed using drones to a height of 200 and 500 meters.

In order to increase the interest and knowledge of young people in the field of space, a special exhibition was opened at the Museum of the History of Communications on the initiative of the Uzbekkosmos agency. Information about the activities of Uzbekkosmos can be found on the agency's pages in social networks.

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Information service of the Uzbekkosmos agency