Yaroslav Pustovyi (born 29 December 1970) is a former Ukrainian astronaut. Pustovyi was one of the first astronauts selected by the

State Space Agency of Ukraine The State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU; uk, Державне космічне агентство України, ''Derzhavne kosmichne ahentstvo Ukrayiny'', ДКАУ, ''DKAU'') is the Ukrainian government agency responsible for space policy an ...

in 1996. Although he was a backup payload specialist on the 1997

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

space mission

STS-87 STS-87 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center on 19 November 1997. It was the 88th flight of the Space Shuttle and the 24th flight of ''Columbia''. The mission goals were to conduct experiments us ...

, he did not fly on the mission. Pustovyi was awarded the Order of Merit for Ukraine in 1998 and competed for the Ansari X Prize in 2003 on the Canadian Arrow team.

Early life and education

On 29 December 1970, Pustovyi was born in

Kostroma Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russia, Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is lo ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and grew up in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. For his post-secondary education, he graduated from the

A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy A.F. Mozhaysky's Military-Space Academy (russian: Федеральное государственное казённое военное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального обр� ...

in 1993 with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

. Specializing in

radio science One way of outlining the subject of ''radio science'' is listing the topics associated with it by authoritative bodies. Union of Radio Science International (URSI) The International Union of Radio Science has several commissions corresponding to ...

, Pustovyi additionally earned a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

National University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

in 1997.

Career

Pustovyi started his career as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...

during the 1990s. While attending university at Kharkiv, he worked at the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

as an

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of ...

researcher. In 1996, he was selected as one of the first astronauts by the

. The following year, he was a part of

as a backup payload specialist for

but did not fly on the shuttle mission. Outside of Ukraine, he was a member of the Canadian Arrow team that competed for the Ansari X Prize in 2003. With his family, Pustovyi moved to Barrie, Ontario in 2007 and worked in security. A couple of years later, he became a co-founder of Space 1 Systems in 2009. In 2014, Pustovyi joined the Canadian Space Commerce Association as a board member and later became the organization's president that year.

Awards

In January 1998, he was given the Order of Merit by Ukrainian president

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corru ...

Personal life

Pustovyi is married and has three children, Anastasiia, Oksana and Amelie, all of whom grew up in Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pustovyi, Yaroslav 1970 births Ukrainian cosmonauts NASA astronauts Living people Canadian people of Ukrainian descent