Today, on 26 March, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, the Ministry of Economics, and the State Space Agency of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation in research and peaceful use of space.
Jānis Paiders, Acting State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, emphasised: “This is an important step for the future cooperation between our two countries in space research. We are confident that this memorandum will promote the development of science and valuable innovations and strengthen both countries’ roles in the global space sector.”
The memorandum outlines the development of Latvia and Ukraine’s space sector capacities for peaceful purposes and highlights areas of cooperation such as space technologies and infrastructure, space data, science and education, business support, digitalisation, and innovations in knowledge-intensive technologies.
The day before, on 25 March, Jānis Paiders, Acting State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, met with Volodymyr Mikheiev, Acting Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, to discuss cooperation in the space sector. The Ukrainian side expressed interest in collaborating with Latvian science, research, and space entrepreneurship experts. During the meeting on 25 March, Latvia reaffirmed its support for Ukraine, especially for cooperation in space for peaceful purposes, and its readiness to engage in joint project implementation. In addition, together with a representative of the Ministry of Economics, discussions were held on support opportunities for Ukraine to start space-related business activities.
Both Latvia and Ukraine have a long history of space development, which contributes to a shared vision and the creation of sustainable cooperation. Considering Latvia’s space infrastructure and knowledge and the fact that Latvia has been an associated member state of the European Space Agency since 2020, the ministry sees new cooperation opportunities that would foster innovation and strengthen the presence of both countries in the global space industry.
Both sides agreed on the next steps, which include organising a joint webinar with higher education institutions involved in research and science and industry representatives to further develop a specific cooperation action plan.
The space sector is one of the policy areas of the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia. For more information about the space sector in Latvia, visit latviaspace.gov.lv.
