Uzbekistan expands space monitoring to detect illegal construction and mining

On 16 October, the president reviewed proposals on identifying new economic opportunities through space monitoring, the presidential press service reported.

Under a presidential decree issued on 30 September, the Uzbekcosmos Agency under the Ministry of Digital Technologies will conduct nationwide space monitoring at least three times a year in the fields of geology, land management, and ecology. The decree also introduced positions for regional representatives of the agency.

Last year, 170 mineral deposits and quarries were sold through auctions, with another 172 sold since the beginning of this year. However, space monitoring in 2024 revealed more than 2,000 cases of illegal use of mineral resources.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has been tasked with effectively utilizing satellite data on land, industrial sites, and deposits to prevent and promptly uncover economic crimes.

In recent years, cadastral registration has been issued for 1.36 million illegally constructed residential buildings. Yet, the issue of unauthorized construction remains unresolved. Since the beginning of this year alone, more than 33,000 such structures have been identified, many of which are located on agricultural land.

To address the issue, the president instructed authorities to swiftly integrate existing information platforms and develop a system for promptly responding to cases of illegal construction.

The meeting also discussed identifying unused land plots via space monitoring and bringing them into economic circulation. An analysis across six regions revealed about 300 hectares of vacant land – including 95 hectares in Tashkent, which have already been put up for auction.

The president ordered the completion of similar studies in eight additional regions by the end of the year, and to cover all district centers nationwide in 2025.

The importance of adopting international experience and advanced technological solutions was also emphasized. Officials presented projects that use artificial intelligence to analyze satellite data for detecting illegal logging, methane leaks, the efficiency of solar panels, the condition of road surfaces, as well as faults and overloads in railway and power networks.

The presentation also featured proposals for building an educational ecosystem in the space sector, developing research and technology, and expanding connectivity in remote areas through satellite telecommunications.