The Ukraine has been awarded the contract for a project to produce and launch Egypt's first reconnaissance mini-satellite, reported the Middle East Newsline (MENL) on Sunday.
The contract has been awarded to the state-owned Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.
Industry sources said the satellite would weigh up to 100 kilograms and be able to relay high-resolution photos of the Middle East.
Egypt has signed a contract with a US firm for reconnaissance data on the Middle East. But the State Department restricts the resolution of the photographs supplied by US satellite reconnaissance firms, said MENL.
The Interfax news agency quoted the Ukrainian company as saying that the satellite's equipment would including a multi-spectrum scanner with high spatial resolution and communications facilities.
The satellite will be launched by the Dnepr-1 rocket and placed in orbit at an altitude of 668 kilometers.
Yuzhnoye Design said the Egyptian project also called for the construction of a ground-based control and relay station.
The company said it would train Egyptian engineers to maintain and design mini-satellites.
Egyptian officials had not confirmed the contract when contacted by the news service.
But they said that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had discussed space cooperation with Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union.
During Mubarak's visit last month to Moscow, Russian officials presented him with information on a new class of military satellites, said MENL – Albawaba.com
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