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Roscosmos took the chairmanship of the International Charter on Space & Major Disasters

Since October 2019 Roscosmos State Corporation took the chairmanship of the International Charter on Space & Major Disasters. Earth’s Online Monitoring Scientific Center (Earth’s remote sensing means operator, Russian Space Systems company) will manage the International Charter on Space & Major Disasters on behalf of Roscosmos until April 2020.

The International Charter on Space & Major Disasters was initialized in 1999 upon a UNISPACE III Vienna international conference decision. The Charter is aimed at supporting countries affected by emergencies by providing them with Earth’s remote sensing data of the affected areas on a free-of-charge basis. The Charter is actively cooperating with various international organizations to coordinate and improve interaction in using satellite data while coping with emergencies (UNSPIDER, UNOOSA, AsiaSentinel). The Charter includes 17 member countries.

Roscosmos officially joined the International Charter on Space & Major Disasters in 2013. Since then the Center took part in more than 100 activations of the Charter and provided the international Charter members more than 20,000 sq. km of Russian online and archive space data.

During the Charter Board meeting Roscosmos suggested to organize the UNSPIDER group expert meeting and utilize Roscosmos experience to train Earth’s remote sensing data processing to ensure stable development of emerging states.