The State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU; Ukrainian: Державне космічне агентство України (ДКАУ), romanized: Derzhavne kosmichne ahentstvo Ukrainy) is the Ukrainian government agency responsible for space policy and programs. It was formed on 29 February 1992, and was based on the Soviet space program infrastructure that remained in Ukraine following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was called the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU; Національне космічне агентство України, НКАУ) until 9 December 2010. Ukrainian spacecraft include a few types for domestic and foreign use and international cooperation. Ukraine has supplied Russia with military satellites and their launch vehicles, a relationship unique in the world. The agency does not have its own spaceport. It used the resources of the Russian Federal Space Agency until 2014. Launches were conducted at Kazakhstan's Baikonur and Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodromes. After the Russian annexation of Crimea, launches were conducted on Sea Launch's floating platform, which was soon mothballed. SSAU has ground control and tracking facilities in Kyiv and a control center in Dunaivtsi (Khmelnytskyi Oblast). Facilities in Yevpatoria, Crimea, had to be abandoned with the 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea. Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, the agency has been transitioning its cooperation efforts away from Russia, with participation in other space programs. Along with the Ukrainian Defense Industry conglomerate and the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex, the agency is a major state-owned component of the defense industry of Ukraine.
Main tasks Development of state policy concepts in the sphere of research and peaceful uses of space, as well as in the interests of national security; Organization and development of space activities in Ukraine and under its jurisdiction abroad; Contributing to state national security and defense capability; Organization and development of Ukraine's cooperation with other states and international space organizations. SSAU is a civil body in charge of co-ordinating the efforts of government installations, research, and industrial companies (mostly state-owned). Several space-related institutes and industries are directly subordinated to SSAU. However, it is not a united and centralized system immediately participating in all stages and details of space programs (like NASA in the United States). A special space force in the military of Ukraine is planned to launch by December 2025. The agency oversees launch vehicle and satellite programs, co-operative programs with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, the European Space Agency, NASA, and commercial ventures. International participation includes Sea Launch and the Galileo positioning system.
Space program
Space activities in Ukraine have been pursued over a 10-year span in strict accordance with National Space Programs. Each of them was intended to address the relevant current issues to preserve and further develop the space potential of Ukraine. The First Program (1993–1997) was called upon to keep up the research and industrial space-related potentiality for the benefit of the national economy and state security as well as to be able to break into the international market of space services. The Second Program (1998–2002) was aimed at creating an internal market of space services, conquering the international space markets by presenting in-house products and services (including launch complexes and spacecraft, space-acquired data, space system components) and integrating Ukraine into the worldwide space community. The National Space Program of Ukraine for 2003-2007 (NSPU), which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Parliament of Ukraine) on October 24, 2002, outlines the main goals, assignments, priorities, and methods of maintaining space activity in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers announced its plans on 13 April 2007 to allocate 312 million euros to the National Space Program for 2007–2011. Specific programs
Scientific space research Remote sensing of the Earth Satellite telecommunication systems Development of ground-based infrastructure for navigation and special information system Space activities in the interests of national security and defense Space complexes Development of base elements and advanced space technologies Development of research, test and production base of the space sector Goals of the program
To develop a national system for Earth observation from outer space to meet the national demands in the social economic sphere and for security and defense purposes To introduce satellite systems and communication facilities into the telecommunication infrastructure of the state To obtain new fundamental knowledge on near-Earth outer space, the Solar System, deep space, biological and physical processes and the microgravity condition To create and develop techniques for space access with a view toward realizing national and international projects and to enable the home-made rocket to be employed on the worldwide market of space transportation services To elaborate the advanced space facilities To ensure the innovative development of the space sector in terms of improving its research, experimental and production basis
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