Armenia

“The Republic of Armenia places great significance on the development of its national Space and Earth Observation related capacities and science, with a special focus on Earth observation, which becomes and still remains one of the most impactful and dynamically growing sub-sector since 2020”

October 13-19, 2024, Milan, Italy Armenia’s Earth Observation capacities were prominently showcased at the exhibition of the 5th World Astronautical Congress. During the event, initial negotiations began between the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS) of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) Laboratory at the University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

8 April, 2025, Dubai, AUE A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was successfully signed between the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS) and the University of Dubai during the ISPRS Geospatial Week 2025. Under this agreement, joint initiatives are planned in the fields of environmental sciences, sustainable development, and ecological innovation, with a particular focus on the integration and application of satellite remote sensing technologies in research and decision-making processes.

Satellite Earth observation has been integrated into the newly updated monitoring system of Lake Sevan in Armenia.

The ActiRS4Env project (Project ID: 23LCG-1E016), a state-funded initiative running from 2023 to 2028, includes a pilot research component aimed at assessing the feasibility of applying RADAR and LIDAR systems for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of above-ground living biomass (AGB) in various natural and manmade ecosystems across Armenia.

Project ID: 22IRF‐04 (2022–2027) is a state-funded initiative focused on developing methods for acquiring and analyzing the spectral signatures of natural and manmade objects in Armenia using ultra-high-resolution remote sensing data.

A series of seasonal schools (summer and autumn) is organized annually by CENS aimed to build and reinforce the research capacities of young and early carrier researchers in Earth Observation In Armenia.

The Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies NAS Armenia has expressed strong interest and will in supporting leading GEO initiatives, such as the Global Ecosystem Atlas (https://globalecosystemsatlas.org/), which is planned to be presented at COP17, to be held in Armenia in 2026.

In 2023, the first private space initiative took off with the Bazoomq foundation, becoming the first non-profit organization to receive a license for conducting space activities in Armenia. The Bazoomq foundation initiated the technology demonstration project “Hayasat” This project involved the Armenian team in testing and assembling Flatsat, programming and integrating flight modules, and developing a secondary payload.

ML4GEO project (Project ID: 20TTCG-1E009), (2020-2023) state-funded project has launched on building capacities of the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (CENS), the leading organization on GIS and remote sensing enabled environmental research in Armenia on innovative approaches for processing earth observation geospatial data in geoecological investigations. The project is funded by the State Committee of Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sport and Culture of Armenia. The core of the project is the implementation of a research program designed to develop Machine Learning models of RS data geoprocessing with the purpose of assessing spatial-temporal changes in atmospheric air temperatures in urban spaces associated with climate change.

SEVAMOD2 project (Project ID 01DK20038) (2020-2023) funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research of Germany and the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia. Project is jointly conducted by the Department Lake Research of UFZ, (Germany), Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of the NAS RA (Armenia), CENS NAS RA (Armenia) and HMC of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia, EOMAP Company (Germany). The project is aimed at building up science-based management instruments for Lake Sevan (Armenia) via investigating the water quality parameters of Lake Sevan, such as water surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, and Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB), using daily satellite images from the European Sentinel-3/2. This aimed to identify the blooming period of HAB in the lake based on remote sensing data.

In 2023, Space Camp programme initiated successfully by the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, in cooperation with scientific institutions and private space research and remote sensing companies featured a series of lectures and practical training designed to introduce students aged 15 to 17 to the space Industry and science, emphasizing Earth observation data and technologies and their various applications.

In 2023, Armenian Geocosmos CJSC and Spanish Satlantis Microsats, S.L. continued their cooperation in establishing a mission control center and ground station in Armenia in the framework of Armsat-1 mission.

The Republic of Armenia places great significance on the development of its national Space and Earth Observation related capacities and science, with a special focus on Earth observation, which has been one of the most impactful and dynamically growing subsector in 2023.