KIEV, Sept. 30 – President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law on the approval of a national targeted scientific and engineering space program for 2013-2017, which was passed by the parliament on September 5, according to the president's Web site.

The key projects of the national space program for 2013-2017 include: the establishment of geoinformation support and monitoring of emergency situations with the use of space information; the launch of three satellites (the Sich-2-1 Earth remote sensing satellite, the Microsat research and engineering satellite, and the UMS-1 university-developed satellite); the creation of the Cyclone-4 space rocket complex at the Alcantara Launch Center (Brazil); the promotion of the Lybid national satellite communications system; the creation of advanced rockets and satellites and development of their manufacturing technology; the promotion of the commercial operation of launch vehicles: Cyclone-4, Zenit 2SLB, Zenit 3SLB (the Land Launch), Zenit 3SL (the Sea Launch), Dnepr and the Lybid national satellite communications system. The program also envisages the development of international cooperation with Russia, the EU, Brazil, Canada, Belarus, the United States, Kazakhstan, and the expansion of cooperation with the European Space Agency.