site.btaRenovated Space Research Laboratory Inaugurated at Faculty of Physics of Sofia University

The "Prof. Stefan Alexandrov" renovated space research laboratory was inaugurated at the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" on Tuesday. Among the official guests at the event were Economy and Industry Minister Bogdan Bogdanov, Defence Minister Todor Tagarev and Sofia University Rector Prof. Anastas Gerdzhikov. The renovation of the laboratory is a joint venture between Sofia University and EnduroSat, which is among the fastest growing nanosatellite manufacturers in the world and one of the main employers in Bulgaria's space industry.

EnduroSat Founder and CEO Raycho Raychev voiced a hope that this would be the first step towards a rapprochement between the space business and the university. The plan is for Bulgaria's top engineers to work in the lab between 300 and 500 hours a year, he added. "I believe that the success of socially important programs is absolutely impossible without private partnerships, meaning that the state, the universities and the people to work directly with businesses. From now on, Bulgaria will have a master's aerospace programme, and we hope to develop systems engineering to a level where a student graduating from this programme can actively participate in the world's leading programs, and why not create the next big project company in Bulgaria," Raychev said.

Addressing the ceremony, Economy Minister Bogdanov stressed that this event is an example of the value that Bulgarian business creates, but not only as a business, but also in terms of human resources development in Bulgaria. "This is the value that each one of us is looking for, the opportunities that we create so that young people stay here, our compatriots come back to Bulgaria, and not just to work on something, but to change the industry, to change the world, to create innovations that will elevate our country to a completely different level," Bogdanov added.

Defence Minister Tagarev explained that EnduroSat's developments are extremely promising - both for civilian and defence purposes. "There is no modern conflict that can be fought without the use of satellite communication and navigation, and observations from space. All this is extremely important for our defence".

EnduroSat is a company developing nanosatellites that fly in the lowest orbit on Earth and provide affordable satellite connectivity with multiple applications for both business and science. In 2018, the company launched its first nanosatellite into space, EnduroSat One, a satellite with dimensions 10 by 10 by 10 centimeters. EnduroSat is a major partner and creator of Europe's largest space science and technology education platform, Spaceport, as well as the largest hands-on space technology education programme, Space Challenges.