Only three countries from Eurasian region have space programs. Statement by Belarus' Ambassador to Kazakhstan fact-checked

Marina Vasilevskaya became the first Belarusian woman to fly into space. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft was launched to ISS on March 23. The cosmonaut is already on the ISS and she is going to return to Earth on April 6.

Commenting on the news in an interview with ATN agensy on March 20, 2024, Pavel Utyupin called Belarus the country that has a space program and added that, throughout the Eurasia region, there are only three of them.

“And today we can say that we are already a space country [i.e. the country with space exploration experience — ed.]. Talking about the Eurasian region, they are  Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. On the other hand, we already have the ground for such cooperation…” the Ambassador said. 

In fact, throughout the Eurasian region, many more countries have their satellites in Earth orbit.

Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan can be added to the list. At the end of 2023, Armenia also launched its first space satellite.

Only four countries from the former members of the USSR have not yet launched space objects into orbit. They are Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.