Russia to Establish International Space Academy
Dragon Media News Desk
Russia’s Higher School of Economics plans to establish an International Space Academy with support from Roscosmos. Its main goal will be to help young engineers move from competitions to real research and development projects in the rocket and space industry.
The academy will help international teams stay connected after the International Space Games. Initially, it will operate as an international partnership network, organising online seminars, exchanges of technical solutions and discussions.
The first practical initiative will be a pilot project. It will help young specialists build professional portfolios and compete for internships and positions on partner organisations’ project teams. One possible project is a compact system for monitoring and purifying water at autonomous facilities.
The academy plans to work in areas including joint engineering development, international space education, engineering competitions, the International Space Games, scientific cooperation and open technology solutions. Organisers also plan to involve the Association of Participants in Technology Clubs and leading educational and technology organisations in Russia and other countries. Universities and research centres in partner countries will host international project teams.
The initiative to create a permanent platform was also inspired by Maria Andreeva, a member of Russia’s team at the International Space Games and a student at the Higher School of Economics. She served as a flight control centre operator during the competition. Andreeva said that challenges in the space industry are often easier to solve when different schools of thought and approaches work together.
The International Space Games ran from October 26 to November 1 and brought together 20 participants from eight countries. They spent 48 hours at a test site in Skolkovo designed to simulate conditions on Mars. In an autonomous settlement, the young engineers had to provide their own energy, food and oxygen while carrying out a research mission.
Communications between the stations and the mission control centre at Bauman Moscow State Technical University were delayed to simulate the time it takes signals to travel between Earth and Mars. The Higher School of Economics operated the Games with support from the Skolkovo Innovation Centre.
