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Russia Clarifies Status of SA Space Tracking Station

03 April 2013 23:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The space tracking station that is being built in South Africa as part of Russia’s astrophysical project RadioAstron can only be used with the radio telescope, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

Earlier in the day some media reported that next year Russia would be able to receive telemetry from other spacecraft with the help of the South African station.

“The agreement that was signed in South Africa provides for cooperation in astrophysical research under the RadioAstron project. So the ground-based tracking station will work only in the interest of this particular project,” a Roscosmos representative told RIA Novosti.

The RadioAstron space satellite agreement between the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and Roscosmos was signed in late March in the course of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the country.