Ten space leaders from Estonia representing both the government and private sector visited Florida Tech’s Spaceport Education Center in Titusville recently as part of the State Department’s U.S.-Estonia Space Cooperation project that also had them in Washington, D.C. and Boulder, Colorado.
The group included executives from the private firms KappaZeta, TalTech and Crystalspace, the director of the observatory at the University of Tartu, and member of the country’s space office and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
“They are in Florida learning about U.S. space activities as well as learning about how to improve space education in Estonia,” said Spaceport Director Don Platt, who hosted the group and offered a presentation on Florida Tech’s space-oriented master’s degree programs in space systems, space system management and commercial enterprise in space.
They also talked about how to educate engineers on the specifics of space and other unique aspects of space education and brainstormed about space education and the future of international cooperation in space, Platt said.
Platt and Spaceport administrator Sharon Anderson showed the group around the education center.
The Estonians were invited to the United States on the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), which is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program designed for emerging foreign leaders.
Objectives for the U.S. visit included exchanging best practices on developing effective space education programs, extracurricular activities to encourage students interested in space, and longer-term space workforce development; and building institutional relationships between U.S. and Estonian entities responsible for space policy, development of commercial space industry, and related research and development tasks, according to the State Department.
