Ilya Cech participated in the session "Science and Education in Space" at the V Congress of Young Scientists

On November 26, 2025, the V Congress ended in Sochi young scientists. As part of the business program, a discussion "Science and education in space" was held, in which the founder took part. Scientific and Technological Guild "Frontiers of Science" Ilya Cech. The session was organized by Geoscan and the Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation.

The meeting was moderated by Andrey Ionin, Vice President for Strategy at the Association for the Export of Technological Sovereignty. The speakers discussed key trends in the space industry, personnel challenges and mechanisms for involving young people in space research.

Experts have recorded a steady increase in the number of spacecraft in both the commercial and scientific segments. At the same time, the size of satellites capable of solving serious tasks is decreasing. Digitalization of production, progress in microelectronics and cheaper launch into orbit became the drivers of the process.

A special role is played by small CubeSat spacecraft (cubesats). They are actively used in science, business and education. It is important that the development of this area is largely provided by private companies. Typed cubesats accelerate the testing of new technologies and allow for full-fledged scientific experiments in low-Earth orbit. In the future, such devices are planned to be sent to the Moon and other celestial bodies.

Kirill Starikov, Head of the Ground Systems Department at the Geoscan Group of Companies, shared his observation:

Under the guidance of senior colleagues, young scientists, students, postgraduates and specialists can work with real spacecraft that are operated in orbit. At the same time, they quickly see the result of their work: thanks to new technologies, it takes several years from setting a task to launching a satellite, sometimes a year or two. This way, young scientists and developers can quickly and effectively develop their skills and competencies.

The participants in the discussion came to the conclusion that modern space projects require specialists of a wide variety of profiles and close interaction between disciplines. The transformation has affected not only space companies, but also the personnel training system.

The new practice-oriented approach will be implemented within the framework of the federal project "Personnel for Space", starting on 1 January 2026. It will include two major initiatives for working with cubesats: the UniverSat program and the Space-pi school satellite project, which oversees Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation.

Ivan Bortnik, Advisor to the CEO of the Innovation Promotion Foundation, spoke about the evolution of the Space-n project. He emphasized the contribution of private Russian manufacturers who create components for small spacecraft.

Five years ago, when we started, there were almost no platforms or launch containers produced in Russia. We currently have several companies producing platforms. The 12U and 16U launch containers are made by the Russian Aerospace Capital. It's the same with service systems: engines, software, and so on. Thanks to this work, Russia has become the second largest in the world in terms of the number of launched cubesats, ahead of us — so far — only America.

Bortnik also emphasized the role of Geoscan in creating an open network of SONICS ground stations. Thanks to this network, students can receive telemetry and experimental data from satellites, as well as participate in joint research.

All participants of the session agreed that in order to develop space science and explore the Solar system, it is necessary to actively involve young people in scientific and technical creativity. We are talking not only about near space, but also about ambitious projects, such as flights to other planets.

The discussion was attended by:

• Anastasia Pavlenko, Deputy Executive Director, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Innopraktika;
• Vladimir Agapov, Chief Designer of the Astronomical Research Center Research Institute;
• Sergey Kuzin, Head of the Joint Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
• Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Head of the Department of Dynamics of Space Systems at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences ;
• Head of the Department of Ground Systems of the ICA GC "Geoscan" Kirill Starikov;
• Ilya Cech, founder of the Frontiers of Science Scientific and Technological Guild;
• Advisor to the CEO, Member of the Supervisory Board Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical field (Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation) Ivan Bortnik;
• Vladimir Gershenzon, General Director of Lorett LLC ;
• Advisor to the Rector of Bauman Moscow State Technical University Dmitry Shishkin.