Space
Bulgaria
Space agency/agencies
The Space Research and Technology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (SRTI-BAS), established in 1987, traces its roots back to the Central Laboratory for Space Research and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which were founded in 1969 (2025)
Space program overview
possesses an extensive history of involvement in space endeavors dating back to the 1960s; engages in the development, production, and operation of satellites; conducts research and develops additional space technologies encompassing fields such as astrophysics, remote sensing, data utilization, optics, and electronics; has focused on manufacturing scientific instruments for space exploration; operates more than 20 research institutes; has been a Cooperating State of the ESA since 2015; collaborates with numerous international space agencies and commercial organizations, including those from the ESA, the EU, individual ESA and EU member countries, India, Japan, Russia, and the United States (2025)
Key space-program milestones
1960s-1990s - was involved in the Soviet Interkosmos program, which featured the first Bulgarian astronaut in space (1979), the inaugural domestically manufactured scientific satellite launched via a Soviet rocket (1981), and participation in the Soviet VEGA initiative (1985)
2017 - launched BulgariaSat-1, the first communications satellite constructed and launched by the US
2019 - saw the launch of EnduroSat-1, the first domestically produced data/educational cube satellite, by the US
2023 - entered into the US-led Artemis Accords, which define principles for collaboration in space exploration
2025 - witnessed the launch of Balkan-1, a domestically created multispectral remote sensing satellite, by the US as part of the EU's Copernicus Earth observation initiative