During an official visit to Russia to strengthen bilateral relations in the fields of defence and security, the Vice-President of Equatorial Guinea, Nguema Obiang Mangue, met with the Director-General of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), Yuri Borisov, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre on 12th December 2023 to discuss a framework for bilateral cooperation in the space sphere.
Furthermore, on the multilateral stage, Borisov offered Equatorial Guinea the opportunity to join the International Lunar Science Station project led by China and Russia. In addition, at the training centre, General Director Maxim Kharlamov explained the exhaustive training process followed by the candidates selected to achieve the title of cosmonaut.
According to Roscosmos, “We are happy to see how interested our colleagues from Equatorial Guinea are in space. I think we can discuss key areas of possible cooperation. While at the Cosmonaut Training Center, the Equatorial Guinean delegation familiarised itself with the training process of Russian cosmonauts, saw several simulators and held negotiations with the Roscosmos head on many prospective bilateral space projects.”
According to a news report by Atalayar, the Equatorial Guinean vice-president’s visit to Moscow is an extension of the recent meeting between Vladimir Putin and President Teodoro Obiang and is aimed at outlining a series of agreements that are likely to be signed during the Russian president’s visit to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in January 2024. The report further mentions that the country has highlighted its interests in investing in macro space projects, with a priority on the participation of an Equatoguinean in a “manned mission” and the launch of an Equatorial Guinean EO or communications satellite to monitor the country’s forests, waters, and oil and gas fields.
