Kazakhstan and CONTEC discuss a satellite component hub and ground stations

Kazakhstan's digital minister met the chairman of South Korea's CONTEC Space Group in Seoul on 14 September to discuss joint production of satellites and components, a ground station network and a manufacturing hub in Kazakhstan, according to the government's account.

The account says a Kazakh subsidiary of CONTEC is expected to be established in the near future. It gives one figure, 17 ground stations that CONTEC manages worldwide, and no investment amount, output target or timetable.

Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, visited CONTEC's assembly and testing complex and met Lee Sung-hee, chairman of the board, the account says. The discussion covered CONTEC's plans to invest in the Ghalam project, joint production of satellites and components, and development of a ground station network. It also covered a manufacturing hub in Kazakhstan for satellite components, with supplies to Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, possible localisation of large ground antenna manufacturing and AI-based processing of satellite imagery for Earth remote sensing analysis. The ground stations CONTEC manages include sites in Chile, the United States, South Africa and Australia.

The account says details of the cooperation are to be presented during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's state visit to South Korea. Kursiv, which reported the meeting the next day, described CONTEC Space Group as comprising CONTEC, Asia Pacific Satellite Corporation and Texas Space Communications, and as a supplier of onboard computers for South Korean government satellites. It did not give a date for the visit.

Agreements reported afterwards

Later accounts describe more concrete steps. Trend, citing the ministry's press service, reported on 17 September that during the state visit Kazakhstan signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CONTEC covering satellite manufacturing, ground infrastructure, Earth remote sensing data and market expansion, and an investment agreement involving Ghalam, CONTEC and APSI to strengthen Ghalam's capabilities. It also reported a deal between Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary and the South Korean firm Nara Space Technology to supply satellite data for monitoring methane emissions, and a third meeting of a working group with the Korea AeroSpace Administration. Trend gave no contract values.

The Times of Central Asia described Ghalam as a Kazakh-French joint venture that develops spacecraft and components at the satellite assembly and testing complex in Astana, and Qazaqstan Gharysh Sapary as the state-owned operator of the Earth observation system. It did not name the French partner. The Kursiv report said CONTEC was considering an investment in Ghalam, while Trend described a signed investment agreement, so the status of the commitment is not consistent across the accounts reviewed.

How it fits the national programme

The government said on 6 October that three Earth remote sensing satellites are operational and that it plans six new ones, three high-resolution and three medium-resolution, and an international constellation of 14 satellites by 2030. It also reported three export projects worth $70 million with Mongolia, Congo and Nigeria. The Times of Central Asia noted that earlier plans called for nine satellites by 2030, six from Kazakhstan and one each from three partner countries, with a possible expansion to 14. The government summary does not mention CONTEC or say who would build the six satellites. A supply chain for components and ground stations would be one way to serve both the domestic programme and the export contracts, but no document reviewed says that this is the plan.

Subsidiary, terms and supplier still open

• whether the Kazakh subsidiary is registered and what capital it carries;
• whether the government publishes the strategic agreement or the Ghalam investment terms;
• whether CONTEC or Ghalam is named as supplier for any of the six planned satellites.