Bulgarian Team Stands Behind Space Challenges – the Biggest Free Space Educational Program in Europe
Space is closer than you think!
A talented team of young Bulgarians stands behind Space Challenges – the biggest free Educational Program in the field of space science and exponential technologies in Europe. The curriculum includes Astrophysics, Astronomy, Biotechnology, AI & Robotics, Medicine & Neuroscience, Aerospace engineering, Space systems & Mission design, Nanotechnology, Planetary sciences and more. The program is developed in partnership with “America for Bulgaria” Foundation and the Trust partner “Telenor Bulgaria”. The initiative is supported by leading experts from NASA, ESA, Caltech, MIT, Stuttgart University, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Stanford University, The University of Oxford and many others.
The founder of Space Challenges, Raycho Raychev is 33 years old. He is the first Bulgarian in the technology program “Singularity University” at NASA Ames Research Center. Previously, he worked at the Space Research and Technology Institute and the Brazilian space program. By 2015 he was the exclusive representative of Bulgaria in the Space Advisory Council of the United Nations.
Space Challenges, started seven years ago and is now a free-access platform for young people aged 18 to 28, with background in mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and the humanities.
A separate module of the platform is dedicated to free online learning courses – Spaceport. All educational and training materials are freely accessible and share the knowledge of dozens of leading experts. Currently, the platform offers 350 video courses or 120 hours of science from nearly 100 of the world’s leading experts in space exploration – representatives of NASA, the European Space Agency, Russian and Japanese space programs, leading universities participating in the mission MARS 500, even businesspeople. All courses are offered in Bulgarian and English, and each module ends up with a test. So far 400 students have completed the training courses at Spaceport.
Another part of the program is open for volunteer teams, working together on the so-called “Space Challenges”. Team members, called “space cadets” can experiment together and work on technology innovations. You can find more information about some of the projects here: https://www.spaceedu.net/space-challenges-projects/. According to the founders of the platform, no great technological product was created without a scientific and engineering collaboration and the Space platform encourages young and talented professionals to experiment and innovate through collaboration.
