In particular, some sources are covering this project as "Uzbekistan's first satellite was launched."
"Samarkand-2028" is not a national satellite of Uzbekistan. It is a hyperspectral satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth, created by the Chinese company STAR.VISION, and the project was implemented in cooperation with the "Uzbekcosmos" agency.
The most important and historic aspect of this mission is that, for the first time in the history of STAR.VISION's international projects, an artificial intelligence module developed by engineers of the "Uzbekcosmos" agency was integrated into the satellite's onboard system.
This is not ordinary software. The artificial intelligence module processes images and data obtained by the satellite directly in orbit, before they are transmitted to Earth. As a result, the volume of transmitted data decreases, the necessary information is obtained quickly, and the efficiency of subsequent analysis processes increases significantly.
In this sense, Uzbekistan participated in this project not as a data user or observer, but as a partner that created one of the mission's important technological solutions. This indicates that the potential of our country's engineers has been recognized internationally.
The naming of the satellite "Samarkand-2028" has a symbolic meaning. At the International Astronautical Congress held in Sydney in 2025, at the initiative of the "Uzbekcosmos" agency, the city of Samarkand was elected as the host of the 79th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) to be held in 2028. This historic event was a great achievement not only for Uzbekistan but for the entire Central Asia. It is for this reason that the satellite was named "Samarkand-2028".
"Samarkand-2028" is a major international space project between Uzbekistan and China, in which an artificial intelligence module developed by Uzbek engineers was used for the first time in an international satellite mission.
This is an important stage in the development of Uzbekistan's space industry. Because our country for the first time participated in an international space project as a creator of a high-tech solution. It is this experience that will create an important scientific and engineering foundation for the future implementation of national satellite programs, including the project of the scientific satellite "Mirzo Ulugbek" being developed by Uzbek engineers.
