In Bulgaria today we have both good and bad examples of the development of space science, Blagovest Tsarev told BTA

Today we have both good and bad examples of the development of space science in our country, Blagovest Tsarev, a teacher at the Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium in Yambol, told BTA. He was a guest at the BTA press club in the city, where the new issue of LIK magazine, dedicated to the 45th anniversary of the flight of the first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov, was presented. For the first time, the publication was presented simultaneously in all BTA press clubs in the country and abroad through a video conference connection.

According to him, no unequivocal answer can be given – Bulgaria is moving on a downward or upward path 45 years after the flight of the first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov in the Earth’s orbit. “There are quite different areas of development in the space sciences. We also have proven specialists, we also have units in which things generally go towards something that can be called a failure,” commented Blagovest Tsarev.

“The main problem is that we have to advertise why this thing makes sense, why we need to advance space science, why students should pursue careers in engineering. In the times of the great space discoveries in the 1960s and 1970s, this was circulated in the media space to a large extent, while now the topic is suffering a media collapse,” he further commented.

According to him, a good example in our country of the development of talents in space sciences is the Olympics in astronomy. “It has produced extremely good relationships between students who have subsequently grown into a healthy interest in science, young people who have gone on to study at the best institutes in the world,” Tsarev added.

According to him, despite the difficulties, Bulgaria has always managed to find the golden mean of meaningful development in space science. “We have always managed to take our piece from these small links, such as global technology and aspiration,” Blagovest Tsarev also pointed out.

According to him, a new Bulgarian footprint in space can only be spoken of at this stage as a private mission, not one with the support of the state, which is also indebted to the development of space science these days.