By ITU News
Romania is among the lesser-known of the pioneering nations that contributed to space exploration in the 1970s and 1980s.
As part of the so-called Eastern Bloc, the then-communist country participated in Soviet-led joint missions taking cosmonauts of various nationalities into space.
One of Romania’s cosmonauts was Dumitru Prunariu, a member of the Soyuz 40 mission under the Interkosmos programme in 1981. Ten years later, Prunariu helped start the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), which has been part of the European Space Agency (ESA) since 2011.
“I was fortunate enough to have had the chance to become the 103rd explorer of outer space, to subsequently take part in the foundation of ESA,” said Prunariu in 2011, marking the 50th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to reach outer space and orbit Earth.
ESA membership led to Romania’s tricolour appearing on the primary stage of an orbital rocket for the first time in July 2022, along with the flags of 12 other European states.
Monitoring and tracking
At the recent tenth anniversary of the country’s ESA partnership, ROSA officials highlighted the crucial role of space surveillance and tracking (SST) technologies, such as the network of optical sensors and radar stations for tracking and monitoring space objects, including increasingly numerous satellites in low-Earth orbit.
The Romanian system belongs to a consortium of SSTs for seven European countries.
Also this year, Romania signed the Artemis Accords put forward by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to establish common principles, guidelines, and best practices for future lunar exploration.
Preparing for launch
According to Romanian national news agency Agerpres, a rideshare agreement between cube satellite manufacturer Alba Orbital and RomSpace, an initiative by students at the International High School of Informatics in Bucharest, will soon culminate in the launch of the ROM-2 (Romanian Orbital Mission) microsatellite.
Part of the upcoming Alba Cluster 7 mission, the small satellite or “cubesat” built by Romanian high schoolers will head into orbit via SpaceX rocket in early 2023.
ROM-2 is a pocket cubic microsatellite, about the size of a Rubik’s cube and weighing a mere 250 grams. Nicknamed the “Space Sparrow”, this small satellite is the first of its kind built in Romania. Its 2-megapixel camera can capture high-resolution photographs of Earth from orbit.
“I was impressed by the amount of technology that can fit in these small cubes,” said mission leader Filip Buşcu. “When I first became interested in nano and picosatellite systems more than three years ago, I knew I would be sending one of my own in the near future.”
The low cost of microsatellites is a major enabling factor when it comes to smaller organizations or emerging countries launching their own space research projects.
Mission to Mars
Recent space missions have also featured the Sample Transfer Arm, developed in part by Romanian space robotics specialists.
It also incorporates Romanian-made components. According to ROSA, the robotic arm will help take mineral and soil samples to answer the question: Was there life on Mars?
“The contribution of the Romanian industry and research community to this pioneering NASA-ESA mission is a direct result of ROSA’s efforts to promote the development in Romania of capabilities relevant for planetary exploration missions,” said ROSA President Dr Marius-Ioan Piso.
“We supported Romania’s participation in the European Space Agency’s optional programme for robotic and human exploration precisely to give Romanian space actors the chance to participate in ESA projects in this field, to increase their technological maturity, and to exchange knowledge between Romanian specialists and those from Europe and even the United States.”
If all goes to plan, the rocks and dust gathered by the Mars Sample Return Mission should arrive back on Earth by 2033.
Inflation declines slightly to 10.2 per cent in July 2022 as energy prices slow in most OECD countries
6 Sep 2022 – Year-on-year inflation in the OECD as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased slightly to 10.2 per cent in July 2022 (Figure 1), from 10.3 per cent in June 2022. This development reflects the first decline in inflation since November 2020. While year-on-year inflation fell between June and July 2022 by at least 0.5 percentage points in Canada, Greece, Luxembourg and the United States, the number of countries registering double-digit inflation increased from 13 to 15.
Energy price inflation in the OECD fell to 35.3 per cent year-on-year in July 2022, down from 40.7 per cent in June, with decreases in 26 of 38 OECD countries. However, food price inflation in the OECD continued to rise, reaching 14.5 per cent in July 2022, compared with 13.3 per cent in June 2022. Excluding food and energy, year-on-year inflation increased to 6.8 per cent in July 2022, compared with 6.5 per cent in June 2022.
In the G7 area, year-on-year inflation decreased to 7.6 per cent in July 2022, compared with 7.9 per cent in June, with lower energy price inflation in all G7 countries except the United Kingdom. Inflation excluding food and energy was the main contributor to overall inflation in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, while the combined contribution of food and energy prices was the main contribution to overall inflation in France, Germany, Italy and Japan (Figure 2).
In the euro area, year-on-year inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) rose to 8.9 per cent in July 2022, compared with 8.6 per cent in June 2022, as the rise in food price inflation and in inflation excluding food and energy more than compensated the fall in energy price inflation. Eurostat’s flash estimate for the euro area in August 2022 points to a further increase in year-on-year inflation to 9.1 per cent. Inflation excluding food and energy is estimated to have risen to 4.3 per cent, compared with 4.0 per cent in July 2022, while energy price inflation is estimated to have decreased.
In the G20 area year-on-year inflation was stable at 9.2 per cent in July 2022, the same as in June 2022. Outside the OECD, year-on-year inflation rose further in Argentina, China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, but decreased in Brazil and India.
https://www.oecd.org