Russia's space agency Roscosmos and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) signed an agreement Friday to create a joint satellite constellation for remote earth sensing later in the day, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov.

"Today, we are signing an agreement with the Italian Space Agency on creating a new generation remote earth sensing satellite constellation," Komarov told the Russian Rossiya 24 television channel.

The agreement should become an important contribution to international cooperation and technological development, he added.

Russia and Italy have been making moves toward closer cooperation in the area of space technologies. In April, ASI President Roberto Battiston told Sputnik that Italy's space program would like to extend its technological cooperation with Russia into the fields of microsatellites and orbiting satellite constellations, adding that the ASI maintained close and continuous coordination with Roscosmos.

The two countries' space agencies are also collaborating on a project to study cosmic radiation and the upper atmosphere of the Earth, as well as planning a mission to drill beneath the surface of Mars in 2018 and explore the geological composition of the planet's crust, according to the ASI head.

Source: Sputnik News