Bulgaria Building first Domestic Satellite in More Than 20 Years
By Jeffrey Hill | August 7, 2012
[Satellite TODAY 08-07-12] Bulgaria will launch a domestic artificial satellite into the orbit for the first time in more than 20 years, the Romanian Association for Cosmonautics and Aeronautics (ARCA) announced Aug. 6.
The satellite, which is tentatively named CubeMessenger, will be assembled in Bulgaria by the independent international scientific team Bulgarian Orbital Research And Satellites (BOREAS). BOREAS consists of university students from Bulgaria, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
CubeMessenger is currently scheduled for launch in 2013 by a Haas 2C orbital rocket that is under construction by ARCA. The ARCA group’s mission also includes the development of components for bigger, future spacecraft and acquiring experience in the implementation of the CubeSat standard. ARCA also said it plans to use the technology for the development of a more ambitious satellite to the moon.