Slovak Organisation for Space Activities
Slovak Organization for Space Activities - SOSA (slov. Slovenská organizácia pre vesmírne aktivity) or Space is non-governmental organization based in Bratislava, Slovakia which:[1]
- Supports space research in Slovakia
- Developing first Slovak satellite skCUBE
- Supports membership of Slovakia in European Space Agency (ESA) and European Southern Observatory (ESO)
- Organizing public events and workshops for general public knowledge about development of space related research and industry in Slovakia
Goals
SOSA promotes space-related research and technologies within the Slovak Republic. Its members include specialists, professionals and students. SOSA has used meteorological balloons to perform experminents on the edge of space. It organises space-themed educational projects and competitions and enabled students to work on the development of its first probe skCube.
SOSA collaborates with the European Space Agency on space research and technologies.
Projects
Stratospheric Balloon - skBalloon
Project of stratospheric flights with meteorological balloons was the first project of Slovak Organization for Space Activities. The idea came in 2008 after several similar projects were successful in USA. The project was given a name skBalloon. Main idea of project is to inspire young people and technicians for space related technologies and also exhibit that also small country like Slovakia can participate in space research. The goal was to develop a space probe which can repeatedly be flown to near-space into altitude of 35–40 km and in parallel carry a scientific payload with technical experiments. In 2013 the project also became multi-national cooperation with other countries as well spin-off company GoSpace which offers commercial solutions was created as a result of this activities. Technicians who gained their experience with the project skBalloon were also actively participating on the development of first Slovak satellite skCube.
First Slovak Satellite - skCUBE
skCube is a flagship project of SOSA. The project consists of designing, construction, lunch,operations and data analysis from CubeSat 1U with dimensions of 10x10x10 cm and weight of 1056g. Slovak field specialist were participating on the development of Magion class satellites in 1970s and as well some Slovak constructed devices are placed on space probes today. However since Slovakia gained independence in 1993 the country did not launch a probe to Earth orbit. The goal is to launch a probe which will be designed, constructed and managed from the territory of Slovak Republic.
External links
Evidence of Civil Associations [online]. Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, [2013-01-05] Available online
Primary website: http://sosa.sk/
skCube website: http://www.skcube.sk/
Articles about astronautics: http://www.kozmonautika.sk/
Slovakian discussion forum about astronautics: http://forum.kozmonautika.sk/
References
- ↑ "Horizon 2020 Space Information Day". Retrieved 2016-08-23.