Between 21-23 March, the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) in partnership with the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN) organised the "Objects and phenomena in outer space: monitoring and risk assessment" Winter School.

The event, postponed because of the pandemic, took place in a hybrid format in Mărișel, Cluj County, and was organised within the national project “System for analysis and assessment of risks in outer space (RoSSA)”.

Experts from institutions with specific focus on civilian and military areas, such as the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), the Military Space Agency, the Institute of Space Science (ISS), the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (IAAR), the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN) and the private companies GMV, RARTEL, BitNET attended the event.

The topics covered in the Winter School were related toSpace Situational Awareness (SSA). Concepts related to: space weather (Space Weather, SWE) and its effects on Earth, potential natural space objects Near-Earth Objects (NEO), Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) and Critical Space Infrastructure were also presented during the lectures. The sessions included a theoretical part that explained the fundamental concepts of celestial mechanics and astrodynamics, as well as the history of the evolution of these principles from a scientific and technological point of view.

The event also contained an update on national and European SSA projects in which Romania actively participates and contributes to (ARGOSS, SAFESPACE, EU SST, RoSSA).

The agenda of the event included visits to the astronomical observatories in Mărișel (BITNET) and Feleacu (AROAC-T30, AROAC-T08 and AROAC-T61). Here, the participants got to know the infrastructure and attended an astronomical imaging session on artificial satellites, using telescopes that are part of the infrastructure.

The closing session was followed by discussions between specialists. They identified components that need improvement and may be subject to  upcoming activities, such as: the development of observation and measurement systems specific to SSA events, the development of internal legislation on risk situation management associated with these events, as well as the development of alert systems for extreme events.

The Winter School is an important and must-have event, both from an educational, scientific and practical point of view, facilitating the dialogue on tangible topics of immediate interest for the SSA community in Romania.

The SSA-themed Winter School will continue to be organised in the coming years, given

the growing international and national interest, in the context of Space Traffic Management (STM) and the ever-increasing involvement of ROSA and of the previously-mentioned institutions in SSA initiatives and projects at the level of ESA, EU and in the ROSA – USSPACECOM collaboration.

You can find more details about the project at this link.