Russia to Launch First International Suborbital Business Incubator in the World
The Skolkovo Foundation and the International Space Transport Association to jointly develop first international knowledge center for commercial suborbital spaceflight
The Center is to be part of Moscow’s Science & Technology Park and will host three business units: (Eco) Tech, Mini Satellites & Telecommunications and Suborbital Space Flights. The Skolkovo Foundation, with President Dmitry Medvedev as Head of the Board of Trustees offers a wide range of financial support possibilities for international businesses to flourish. Its set up follows a phased implementation process and will be developed in close cooperation with the International Space Transport Association.
“The Center is to become the first ‘one stop shop’ in the world for all in need of suborbital space technology and knowledge” says Mr. Ronald Heister, Director-General of the International Space Transport Association. “It will be a wonderful and unique opportunity for entrepreneurs around the Globe to be involved in this new sustainable economy and freely trade and exchange technology, science and services globally. We call upon all interested in being part of this unique venture to contact ISTA.”
Mr. Viktor Vekselberg, President of the Russian Skolkovo Foundation said that “this marks the joining of the Russian Federation as one of the leading spacefaring nations to the international industry of commercial cosmonautics. Its prosperity will not only allow thousands of people to implement their dream of a spaceflight, but also will contribute to accelerated human technological development”.
In December 2011 an official delegation of ISTA, headed by its Director-General was invited by the Executive Director of Skolkovo Foundation’s Space Cluster, cosmonaut Sergey Zhukov, to attend the launch of the manned Soyuz MTA-03M spacecraft in Baikonur, Kazachstan. The delegation also visited Star City and Mission Control in Moscow.
In November 2011 the International Space Transport Association (ISTA) wrote history when closing contracts with market leader Allianz being the first offering global Space Travel Insurances.
ISTA also awarded the International ISTA Prize to Skolkovo Foundation for “the Skolkovo Innovation Centre’s profound leadership in the field of Space Technology Business” and to Sir Richard Branson for the “pioneer gains in the field of sub-orbital business of his operator company Virgin Galactic”.
About the International Space Transport Association (ISTA)
The International Space Transport Association (ISTA) is the world’s first branch organization for commercial entities involved in the space transport economy. Founded in The Hague in 2008, ISTA treads in the footsteps of its civil aviation predecessor IATA, also founded in The Hague, in 1916, to establish a powerful and effective lobby for all commercial space activities.
ISTA pursues its goals by offering memberships to all public and private organizations and persons that pursue activities within the scope of commercial space transport. Members are offered virtual and physical headquartering at ISTA’s headquarters in the Hague, administrative and legal assistance, marketing and communications services, regulatory lobbying and venture capital facilitation from a vast, worldwide network of private and public space investors.
Space transport businesses that choose to be ISTA members enjoy all-round support of their activities through a vast array of services that ISTA offers. ISTA staff maintains close links with public space organizations, academic institutions and private companies in the engineering, insurance and legal sectors, to ensure that the latest knowledge is available to its members.
About the Skolkovo Foundation The Skolkovo Foundation for Developing a Center for Research and Commercialising New Technologies is a non-profit-making organisation created on the initiative of Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, in September 2010. Skolkovo is to become an innovation hub that will stimulate innovative entrepreneurship and disseminate entrepreneurial culture across the country to integrate Russia into the global economy.
The aim of the foundation is to mobilise Russia’s resources in the field of contemporary applied research and to create a favorable environment for undertaking scientific developments in five priority areas of technological development: power engineering and energy efficiency, space, biomedicine, and nuclear and computer technologies.
The project includes setting up the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (SIST), research institutes, a business incubator, a technology transfer and commercialization center, representative offices of foreign companies and R&D centers, housing and social infrastructure, and also subsequently disseminating an efficient system of operating to other regions of Russia engaged in innovation.
The Skolkovo innovation center’s activities are regulated by a special law which provides its residents with special economic conditions.
For more information:
Mr. Jacques Happe, Head of Press, ISTA
Tel +31(0)6-55111975 E-mail: j.happe@istaspace.com / www.istaspace.com
Mrs. Seda Pumpyanskaya, Vice President of the Skolkovo Foundation
Tel.: +7-495-967-0148 ext. 2242
E-mail: SPumpyanskaya@corp.i-gorod.com / www.i-gorod.com
