Country dossier · BGR

Bulgaria

Emerging space nation

A sourced snapshot of Bulgaria's posture in space — capability, institutions, orbital assets, law and people. Every figure carries its primary source; gaps are shown honestly, never filled with invented data.

Open Bulgaria in the interactive workspace →

Capability tier

Emerging space nation

Launches to orbit from its own territory: noLaunch sites on record: 0Nationals who have flown: 2

Source: ALL IN SPACE capability ladder · see methodology

Space agency

SRTI-BAS

Other space institution · established 1969

Source: SRTI-BAS · official site

Satellites (owner state)

4

Counted from the GCAT May 2026 snapshot. The interactive workspace shows a live CelesTrak figure, which uses different owner-attribution rules and will differ.

Source: GCAT · General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (J. McDowell) · May 2026 snapshot

Ground stations

8

Source: ALL IN SPACE curated ground-station dataset (operator-sourced)

Space budget

$11M

Emerging spender · 2024

Source: OECD · GBARD by socio-economic objective

National strategy

Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation 2021-2027 and ESA Cooperation Programme (2022)

No standalone national space strategy; space activities embedded in smart specialisation and SRTI-BAS scientific programmes

Source: Published national space strategies and policies

International space law

InstrumentStatus
Outer Space Treaty 1967Ratified
Rescue Agreement 1968Ratified
Liability Convention 1972Ratified
Registration Convention 1975Ratified
Moon Agreement 1979Not a party
Artemis Accords 2020Signatory (2023-11-09)

Source: Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space (1 January 2026)

Launch sites

No launch infrastructure.

Source: National launch site roster · ALL IN SPACE compilation

Astronauts

  • Georgi IvanovSoviet space program (Intercosmos) · first flight 1979 · First Bulgarian in space
  • Aleksandar AleksandrovSoviet space program (Intercosmos) · first flight 1988 · Second Bulgarian in space

Source: Astronaut biographies

Milestones

  • 1969SRTI-BAS established
  • 1979First national in space

Notable missions and contributions

  • ESA Cooperating State — SRTI-BAS coordinates
  • Georgi Ivanov — cosmonaut (Soyuz-33, 1979)
  • Aleksandar Aleksandrov — cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-5/Mir, 1988)
  • BulgariaSat-1 (2017) — commercial satellite (SpaceX)
  • Rozhen Observatory 2m telescope, largest in SE Europe
  • 200+ instruments on Soviet/Russian missions