ROSPIN School, 2026
Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, Partner in ROSPIN School
Between 20 and 22 February 2026, the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (AIRA) partnered with the Romanian Space Initiative (ROSPIN) in the final stage of the 5th edition of ROSPIN School, an educational programe dedicated to high school students interested in space science and technology. This year’s final stage brought together the five best teams selected after the online stage. Approximately 30 students from Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Pitești, Buzău and Constanța took part in an intensive weekend of work built around a realistic educational scenario. The participants were tasked with analyzing a potentially hazardous near-Earth object (NEO), fictitiously named Decembra, characterizing its orbit and subsequently proposing a space mission to deflect it.
The first day of activities took place at the IAAR headquarters, where participants had the opportunity to engage directly with the institute’s infrastructure and research activity. Members of the institute gave presentations dedicated to the scientific study of artificial Earth satellites. They discussed the methods and technologies used to monitor them, as well as the relevance of this research to today’s civil and military aerospace sector. Another presentation was delivered online by Dr. Șandor Kruk, astronomer and data scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA). For the students, the meeting was a valuable opportunity to discover both the scientific dimension and the practical applicability of advanced research directions being developed in Romania.
ROSPIN representatives also presented the organization's activities and provided participants with a broader context regarding educational initiatives and projects in the space field. The 5th edition of ROSPIN School focused primarily on planetary defense, and during the final stage the five best teams worked on an educational scenario involving the observation, characterization and deflection of a near-Earth object (NEO).
Although the astronomical observations initially planned could not take place because of unfavorable weather conditions, the visit to the institute gave the students direct contact with researchers and with current topics in astronomical observations and the monitoring of space objects.
Through this collaboration, IAAR and ROSPIN helped bring young people closer to contemporary space research, offering them an applied learning framework and a concrete perspective on how science and technology developed in Romania can support the study and monitoring of objects in orbit.
Published on: Apr 06, 2026
