A celebration on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bulgaria’s proclamation as a space state was held in “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Academy. The Space Research and Technology Institute (SRTI) of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was the organizer of the event which took place under the patronage of President Rumen Radev.
For us, space is an expression of the ambitions of a nation where it positions itself in terms of human progress and the future of humanity, President Rumen Radev said in his greetings at the solemn celebration. It is a tribute to the pioneers, 50 years ago, that they positioned Bulgaria at the forefront of human progress, the Head of State said. We can only also be proud of what Bulgaria did 50 years ago and the way the Bulgarian space programme developed, he stressed.
The President of the Academy Prof. Julian Revalski, Full Member of BAS, pointed out during the celebration that when the state supports scientific research, Bulgarian scientists repay with world-class results. Minister of Economy Nikola Stoyanov and Commander of the Air Force Major General Dimitar Petrov also congratulated the scientists. The Director of the Space Research and Technology Institute, Prof. Georgi Jelev, awarded a plaque to five scientists who had worked on the creation of the first space instrument Pribor-1. The awards are for their contribution to the development of space research.
On December 1, 1972, the first Bulgarian scientific instrument, named Pribor-1 (P-1), created by Bulgarian scientists and specialists, flew into space. With the data it has been sending to Earth laboratories, Bulgaria is recognised as a space-faring country.
For 50 years Bulgaria has established itself in the space family as the 6th country to have sent two cosmonauts – Georgi Ivanov and Alexander Alexandrov and the 3rd country in the world to have produced space food. The world’s first space greenhouse “SVET” was invented in which wheat was grown from seed to seed for the first time.
More than 150 unique scientific devices and instruments were developed by scientists of BAS. Original Bulgarian instruments are working on the International Space Station (ISS). On 19.02.2022, another Bulgarian instrument for space radiation research “Liulin-SET” was launched to the ISS, and “LULIN – MO” continues today to work in orbit around distant Mars. In the near future, a new instrument of the institute is expected to transmit specific information from the very surface of Mars.
These achievements of the Bulgarian specialists were presented to journalists at a press conference by the director of the institute Prof. Georgi Jelev and scientists who have worked over the years. Out of a total of 35 projects in partnership with the European Space Agency, 14 have been successfully implemented so far, Prof. Jelev also said.
On the occasion of the celebration, an exhibition of drawings by children and students from the national children’s competition “What Space Is For” was opened at BAS. More than 850 drawings and 100 essays have been received, and the jury will announce the results in December. A scientific conference on “Space-Ecology-Safety” was also held.
More information at the SRTI website.
