Bulgaria advances project to launch new space, defense innovation hub


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!Illustration of a space research and development hub planned for Dobroslavtsi Air Base in Bulgaria. Credit: EnduroSatIllustration of a space research and development hub planned for Dobroslavtsi Air Base in Bulgaria. Credit: EnduroSat

WARSAW, Poland — Bulgaria’s government has approved a draft memorandum of understanding with local company Starbase Europe to collaborate on the development of a new space and defense innovation hub near the country’s capital Sofia, at Dobroslavtsi Air Base.

The development comes as the small country’s other space companies such as Sfera Technologies are expanding their capabilities, and the Bulgarian government is taking new steps to establish itself as a preeminent European space hub separate from the European Space Agency.

Bulgaria , which does not have a national space agency, is readying to build a National Center for Observation, Coordination and Management through Space Data, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said in an August 6 statement released by his office.

“What is happening here is a reflection of the government’s economic policy — investing in the knowledge economy, high-tech manufacturing, research and development,” Radev said. “I hope that this way we will transform Bulgaria from a country that consumes technologies into a country that creates them.”

“The project is very complex and large. Our ambition is to create here a comprehensive center for assembly, testing and qualification of new generations of satellites,” Raychev said in the press release from Radev’s office.

Other Bulgarian space industry companies, such as Earth observation data company Sfera Technologies, are also monitoring the project in Dobroslavtsi. The business is building an integrated system to help expedite the delivery of observation data.

Zdravko Dimitrov, the founder and CEO of Sfera Technologies, told SpaceNews that Bulgaria represents a rare European example of a country with a near-full stack of space technology, comprising modern ground segment services for low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit and geostationary orbit, satellite manufacturing and AIT, sovereign geostationary communications capability and “a rich heritage in space and planetary science that dates back to the 1970s.”

“There is quite a bit of action going on in the local ecosystem,” Dimitrov said. “There is a component of this endeavor \[advanced by the Bulgarian government\], an aerospace monitoring and observation center, that is something we are definitely interested in, considering that we are focused on expediting data delivery.”

Dimitrov said Bulgaria’s space sector is fragmented, and the idea behind the Dobroslavtsi initiative is to create a hub that would support its growth.

One of Bulgaria’s major assets is the presence of talent and higher education institutions such as the University of Sofia which “has a very robust aerospace engineering program,” he said.

As Bulgaria ramps up its space efforts, companies including Sfera Technologies also aim to grow. Dimitrov told SpaceNews, for example, that the company plans to support “around a dozen” satellites by the end of 2026 amidst growing demand for ground segment and integrated data delivery services, and that in 2027 Sfera aims to expand its ground station infrastructure and acquire ground stations of its own.

“The market we’re looking at right now is, of course, the EU, but we’re also looking at the U.S. and Southeast Asia where there is growing demand for capability,” Dimitrov said.

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Jarosław Adamowski

Jarosław Adamowski is a Warsaw, Poland-based correspondent for SpaceNews. He has written for Defense News, the Guardian, the Independent, the Jerusalem Post, and the Prague Post. More by Jarosław Adamowski

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