Sofia, Oct 19 (BTA/GNA) – The Space Research and Technology Institute (SRTI-BAS) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences celebrates today 50 years under the motto “Bulgaria – a space-faring state”.
Speaking at the solemn jubilee assembly Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said that a total of BGN 137 million will be allocated for the establishment of а National Space Centre for observation, coordination, and management under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan,
Radev thanked for the opportunity to take over the patronage of the initiative. In his words, space exploration is an extension of aviation. “Space is the expression of a nation’s ambitions to position itself in relation to human progress and the future of humanity. Some 50 years back, it is to the credit of the pioneers who positioned Bulgaria at the forefront of human progress. We can only be proud of what Bulgaria did 50 years ago and the way the Bulgarian space programme has been developed,” Radev said.
On December 1 of 1972, the first Bulgarian scientific instrument, bearing the modest name Pribor-1 /P-1/, created by Bulgarian scientists and specialists, flew into the vast Cosmos. With the data it sends to Earth laboratories, Bulgaria is recognized as a space-faring country.
Over the last 50 years, Bulgaria has established itself in the space family as the sixth country to send two of its cosmonauts (Georgi Ivanov and Alexander Alexandrov) to space; it has become the third country in the world to produce space food and last but not least – Bulgarian scientists have invented the world’s first space greenhouse “SVET”, in which wheat was grown from seed to seed for the first time, the BAS pointed out.
More than 150 scientific instruments and devices have secured Bulgaria’s place among the first to truly master space at a large scale. Today, original Bulgarian instruments are working on the International Space Station (ISS). On 19 February 2022, another Bulgarian instrument for space radiation research, Liulin-SET, was launched to the ISS, and Liulin-MO continues to operate today in orbit around distant Mars.
Soon, Bulgaria’s new instrument is expected to transmit specific information from the surface of Mars itself. With these achievements, Bulgarian scientists and specialists have made an undeniable contribution to the future flight of cosmonauts and astronauts to the Moon and Mars, the Academy stressed.
BTA/GNA