Tekening Bulgaars meisje wordt op satelliet de ruimte in gestuurd (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Directoraat-generaal Ondernemingen en industrie (ENTR) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 23 augustus 2011.

On 16th June, a Bulgarian jury awarded the first prize in the Galileo drawing competition to nine-year-old Natalia Nikolaeva. One of the two operational Galileo satellites to be launched on 20th October will be named after Natalia.

Natalia Nikolaeva, born in 2002, is the winner of the Galileo Drawing Competition in Bulgaria and will have one of the first two IOV satellites named after her. A jury panel made up of Niki Kunchev - TV & radio host, Tsvetelina Bonova - Communications and Public Relations of UNICEF Bulgaria and Alexander Alexandrov - cosmonaut chose Natalia's winning entry from 500 submissions. The criteria used were relevance of the drawing to the given topic, originality of expression and aesthetic appeal.

At a special ceremony that took place on 16th June 2011 in the European Commission's Representation in Sophia. Natalia was presented with a certificate and trophy representing the satellite that will be named after her. The award ceremony was attended by the jury members and representatives of the European Commission.

The Galileo Drawing Competition

The Galileo Drawing Competition is taking place in each of the 27 European Union Member States and is open to all children living in these countries who were born in 2000, 2001 or 2002. The competition first ran in Belgium and Bulgaria, 10 April - 31 May 2011. It will be open in the remaining countries between 1 September and 15 November 2011. Children are encouraged to create a piece of artwork that represents the theme ‘Space and Aeronautics’. A jury of national personalities will select each country's winner who will have one of the satellites of the Galileo Programme named after them.

The Galileo Programme

Galileo is Europe's global navigation satellite system providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. Galileo will provide three early services in 2014/2015 based on an initial constellation of 18 satellites: an initial Open Service, an initial Public Regulated Service and an initial Search-and-Rescue Service. The Galileo Programme Satellites are scheduled to be launched in phases as of 20th October 2011 and until the constellation is complete.

For further details regarding the competition please visit:

For further details regarding The Galileo Satellite Programme please visit: