On the third day, the session work ended and the round-table discussions were held at the session meetings.

We asked the guests of Yuzhnoye SDO and chairmen of the sessions to share their impressions.

Jeffrey Campbell, representative of Orbital ATK Inc.:

I take part in this Conference for the second time as a sponsor. Moreover, we and Yuzhnoye SDO have worked together on critically important structures of Antares for 10 years.

We have great business relations and our partnership pleases me.

I think that the Conference is very important and promising. One may meet potential partners here.

We continue to cooperate with Yuzhnoye SDO. We plan to perform several joint launches to deliver payloads to ISS within the next few years.

 

Yaroslav Yatskiv, Director of the Main astronomical observatory of Ukraine:

The Conference is over. Accompanying, reception, data transmission, and session organization were at the highest level. We are grateful to the organizers for holding such a top-quality innovative scientific conference.

It is very important that people have an opportunity to communicate. Various issues are discussed in different sessions. I participate in the second session meeting. The presentations at the materials science session are said to be at a high scientific level. I know that the engine session is interesting, because Yuzhnoye SDO has some works to present in this field. The meeting gives an opportunity to share information within the community and to use the developments practically in the future.

In reality, Yuzhnoye SDO is the main space company of Ukraine. It is a leader who has certain obligations. The leader has to do things for others. It is the responsibility even if it distracts the employees from their main activity. The duty of the leader is to consolidate the members of different space organizations, involve the scientific community, which I represent, and consider the perspectives of Ukraine to join the great space states in the future.

And finally, here are my personal impressions. I was acquainted with the former General Designers; I communicated with Utkin, Konyukhov was my close friend and colleague, and now I cooperate with Degtyarev. I believe that it is very important to share information on the pages of Space Science and Technology. Borys Paton is the chief editor of this journal and I am the deputy editor. We offer an opportunity to publish the main results of the conference. I want these results to be known in the world.

 

Pavel Degtyarenko, Chief Designer of Division-1

It is obvious that the conference is not the first. This is the sixth one and we have come a long way to improve it. The Conference of this year indicates that we have achieved a new level of quality. I can assure that we managed everything. The organizers have performed a titanic work. Even the employees of Yuzhnoye SDO, who took part in preparations and arrangements themselves, expressed their gratitude to the organizers. The result is definitely positive.

The agreements are being prepared; however, they are not signed yet. This work shouldn’t be done in a hurry. The contacts are established, since we and our guests have many things to offer to each other.

A lunar research base is a very interesting topic that will attract many listeners to the round-table discussion. However, Ukraine is not able to manage this large project alone. In my opinion, Ukraine will not be a consolidating link for it either. This project is to be managed by ESA and NASA. But we have some developments to offer, so we have to participate. We have to conquer the Moon.

Alexander Mashchenko, First Deputy General Designer – General Director for Organization and Technical Support:

I am the head of the session “Current and Future Space Launch Systems, Launch Vehicles, Their Components and Systems”. Seventy papers were prepared and presented by members of 17 companies. These papers cover a wide range of questions, e.g. general issues of design and development of space rocketry and launch systems, their comparisons and differences. Another issue is the development of different systems, i.e. control and measuring, propellant supply system and pneumohydraulic system. The other topics include reliability, strength, orbital motion, aerodynamics, space debris and its removal.

I want to point out, that at the previous 5th Conference we recommended the participants from Ukrainian organizations to use the actual developments of Yuzhnoye SDO in order to improve the scientific and applied level of their papers. And now more than 20 papers of 70 were prepared in co-authorship with the employees of Yuzhnoye SDO.

In conclusion, it is always very pleasant to communicate with smart and skilled specialists, scrutinizing and motivated people.

Our foreign guests and Ukrainian colleagues highly appreciated the Conference. It was favorably received and we didn’t expect anything opposite. I believe that the personnel of Yuzhnoye SDO and all people, engaged in organization and support of the Conference, accomplished their mission.

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The Robert and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust events were held on this day. One had an opportunity to look through Heinlein’s fantastic works since ten editions of his novels were presented on the demonstration tables. The documentaries about the Trust were shown on the screens.

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The pleasant additions to the Conference program were the excursions, i.e. the ethnographic city tour and engineering excursion throughout premises of Yuzhnoye SDO Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant.

 

The Conference participants visited the main assembly workshop of Yuzhny, where Vasyl Nesterenko, Deputy Chief of Workshop 97, conducted the tour. They saw the Yuzhnoye SDO pilot production of polymer material structures that were described by Alexander Potapov, Head of Division 9. They also saw a 3D printer and listened to a fill-in given by Alexander Lomakin, Head of Department 716. The participants visited the Test Division 3, where the Head Victor Fedorov told about its capabilities.

The excursion overran a schedule because the participants examined the displayed items and asked many questions. The audience’s mood was good since the event was really unique and interesting for everyone. The excursion buses were overcrowded as a lot of people desired to see the facilities and production capabilities of Yuzhnoye SDO