ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 -- Since the signing of an agreement on Cooperation on BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation in August 2021, China has shared 400 scenes of satellite imagery data with BRICS countries, with the total volume amounting to 1.5 TB.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, made the remarks Friday in virtual format at the session "Cooperation with BRICS countries in space" of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"The BRICS mechanism is an important platform for cooperation between emerging market countries and developing countries. BRICS cooperation has entered a new stage of cooperation in this field," Zhang said. "China invites more emerging market countries to join the BRICS space exchange and cooperation pattern."

Russia has also actively participated in the implementation of the agreement. According to the press service of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, in 2022, Russia shared satellite imagery of over 85,000 square km with BRICS partners.

Russia is interested in deepening cooperation with the BRICS countries, and transitioning from individual projects to a full-scale technological alliance in space exploration, said Yuri Borisov, Roscosmos director general, at SPIEF.