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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that in the conditions of military aggression, the space industry is a key element of Ukraine's national security and defense.

"Ukraine must restore its leadership and status as a leading aerospace state," he said, speaking at a meeting on the space industry development in Ukraine, which took place at the National Space Facilities Control And Test Center (NSFCTC) on the day the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, the President's Office reports.

"Our designers and scientists played a key role in the implementation of the Soviet space program, so without too much modesty we can say that the space exploration by mankind would have been impossible without Ukraine," he said.

Volodymyr Zelensky stated that today, despite all the challenges, domestic designers continue to design and launch satellites, manned spacecraft, orbital stations, and Ukraine is one of the 13 countries in the respected "space powers' club".

The president at the same time noted that a number of important questions have now arisen. In particular, why the State Space Program has not been approved and why there are problems with financing strategically important projects, such as the Sich-2-1 space system.

Read alsoCabinet approves funds for development, launch of Sich-2-1 satellite"The government has recently passed a resolution that will address these issues. But in general, the approach to financing the space industry needs to change. In addition, we need to look for new approaches to planning space activities, optimizing the structure, developing public-private partnership, international cooperation and achieving Ukraine's associate membership in the European Space Agency," the president stressed.

Reporting to the president on the state of affairs in the industry, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Uruskyi said that the previous space program completed in 2017. He expressed hope that the approval process for the new program would be completed soon.

Regarding the priorities, Oleh Uruskyi noted that the program includes, among other things, projects to create a system of high-resolution remote sensing of the Earth, the development of a lunar module, and a number of scientific programs. Many projects could be pursued through public-private partnership. The deputy PM also stressed the need to increase funding for the industry and proposed to include the issue on the agenda of discussions of this year's budget amendments.

As regards the launch of the Sich-2-1 spacecraft, the government passed a resolution unblocking its funding.

Read alsoAntares launcher with stage 1 designed, built in Ukraine lifts Cygnus spacecraft to ISSVolodymyr Horbulin, First Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences, noted the high level of cooperation in the aerospace industry with the United States.

"We have reached an unprecedented level of cooperation with Americans. They never trusted anyone to make the first stage of a rocket carrier. This is recognition of our technological and technical capabilities," he said.