November 30, 2023

VIII All-Russian CosmoStart Forum: a cosmic scale event!

The VIII All-Russian Cosmonautics and Aviation Forum CosmoStart is taking place in St. Petersburg from November 30 to December 2. The forum is organized by the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation (SUAI) together with the St. Petersburg regional organization of the Federation of Cosmonautics of Russia and the Roscosmos State Corporation with the support of the Administration of St. Petersburg

This year, CosmoStart is dedicated to the most important milestone in the history of cosmonautics: 25 years ago, Russia launched the first element of the ISS into orbit — the Zarya functional cargo unit. The 25th anniversary of the International Space Station is marked by a cross-cutting theme of the Forum.

Among the participants there are outstanding experts and specialists in the rocket, space and aviation industries, cosmonauts, scientists, university and school students from different regions of Russia.

The opening ceremony of the Forum in the hall of the Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin Presidential Library was attended by honored guests and representatives of the Administration of St. Petersburg. More than 300 people attended the opening of the Forum. In 2023, CosmoStart takes place both in on-site and online format.

The participants were also welcomed by the current international crew of the ISS: cosmonaut pilot, Hero of the Russian Federation Oleg Kononenko and test cosmonauts Konstantin Borisov and Nikolai Chub.

Next, a panel discussion was held, where the opportunities for self-realization of young people in the field of space and related fields were discussed. At the same time SUAI hosted a round table on Promising On-board Computer Networks, which became the second meeting of the Aerospace Systems of the New Generation Consortium within the Forum. The participants discussed the harmonization of technical requirements for unified data exchange standards, as well as requirements for educational programs in the field of aerospace.

For regional participants and school students of St. Petersburg, open thematic meetings and lectures from space industry popularizers and scientific journalists were held at the Boiling Point — St. Petersburg. GUAP. Mikhail Kotov, a scientific journalist, author of the "Contact of Ascent" telegram channel , director of development of the Summer Space School, gave a lecture on the topic "Moon Race 2.0 — which country will be the first to land on the Moon again?", and Artemiy Muradov, a test engineer of the 2nd category of the S.P. Korolev Space Corporation Energia, told the participants about 3D printing technologies in space exploration.

There are two interesting and eventful days of the Forum ahead, filled with useful meetings and memorable events.