›Regional Summer School on Space Sciences and Technologies

For many years Armenia had leading positions both in astronomy (Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO), Viktor Ambartsumian, Beniamin Markarian and other Armenian astronomers) and space technology (Grigor Gurzadian, Hrant Tovmasyan). Particularly, Gurzadyan designed, developed and prepared the first Soviet space observatories, “Orion” and “Orion-2”. Soviet cosmonautics training courses were organized in BAO in 1970-1980s. BAO had and now restored the Department of Applied Astronomy. Currently, on a contractual basis with Russian Space Agency “Roscosmos”, BAO participates in a project to monitor the space debris, according to which 3 small telescopes have been installed in BAO Saravand station. It is also worth noting that Virtual Observatories are of great importance in modern astronomy, when research is performed using all telescopes, different times, different modes, and the results of observations at all electromagnetic waves. The Armenian Virtual Observatory (ArVO) is part of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) and also participates in the International Planetary Data Alliance (IPDA), where space agencies of the major countries are members.