On Thursday, March 12, Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) Volodymyr Usov, together with other representatives of the agency, and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) visited Association Noosphere and its partners in Dnipro.
The first site toured was the Firefly Aerospace R&D Centre. Alexander Dondik, Director of Firefly Ukraine, presented the innovative labs equipped with cutting-edge technologies for manufacturing high-powered rockets. Guests also saw 3D-printers, manufacturing processes and rocket parts made in the labs.
The next stop was the Space Electric Thruster Systems (SETS) office and labs. The SETS CEO introduced the space laboratories and explained how the company uses 3D-printing technologies in their work. Guests were impressed by 3D-printers which make small copies of rocket parts for testing before manufacturing the full-sized ones.
Guests then stopped by Flight Control and Noosphere Engineering School (NES). Alexey Kulik, head of NES Space, introduced NES laboratories, mentors and projects created by NES students. The visitors were amazed by the number of the quality projects developed at the School such as MyPol and ArtOS, startups both now service governments, virtual reality app DEMI, which entertains visitors of Gagarin park in Dnipro; WheelKeep, a smart security device for your bicycle; Infusion Light, a smart dropper project; and more.
Noosphere Chairman of the Board Michael Ryabokon, together with representatives of SSAU and Verkhovna Rada, met to discuss the future of the space industry in Ukraine and the role of New Space companies in that future.
“Noosphere unites young people who are interested in technology and innovations, who are eager to make the world a better place. We have a number of initiatives that help to unleash potential, improve knowledge and create new innovative products. By collaborating with leading universities as well as our devoted partners, Noosphere provides training and production internships for students in aviation and space technology specialties. Young enthusiasts can also turn their ideas into reality at any one of the Noosphere Engineering School labs,” said Michael Ryabokon.