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Bulgaria
First Soviet-Bulgarian Space Flight
1979 Proof Silver 10 Leva 38mm (24.00 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.6901 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 105a
Certification: NGC
PF 65 ULTRA CAMEO 2863547-014
НАРОДНА РЕПУБЛИКА БЪЛГАРИЯ 1979 10 ЛЕВА,
Coat of arms of People’s Republic of Bulgaria.
ПЪРВИ СЪВМЕСТЕН ПОЛЕТ В КОСМОСА СССР * НРБ, Spaceship.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
The Bulgarian cosmonaut program refers
to human spaceflight efforts by the People’s
Republic of Bulgaria. The idea of a Bulgarian
manned space mission predated the launch of
Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. An
informal proposal for the Soviet Union to send a
Bulgarian cosmonaut in space was issued in 1964,
but it was not seriously considered by the
Soviets. Official space cooperation began in
1966 with the establishment of the Interkosmos
programme which allowed Communist Bloc countries
to access Soviet space technology and assets.
Under Interkosmos, Bulgaria sent its first
cosmonaut, Georgi Ivanov, to the Salyut 6 space
station in 1979 and became the sixth country in
the world to have a citizen in space. However, a
malfunction in his Soyuz 33 spacecraft prevented
the crew from docking, and Ivanov only spent 31
orbits around Earth before safely descending
back to Earth. A second Bulgarian cosmonaut,
Aleksandar Aleksandrov, spent ten days on the
Mir Space Station in 1988 and performed a
variety of scientific experiments.
 BulgariaaBǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Република България, tr. Republika Bǎlgariya, IPA: [rɛˈpublikɐ bɐɫˈɡarijɐ]), is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe’s 16th-largest country.
 Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on current Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians, Ancient Greeks, Persians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Alans and Huns. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 AD, which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavs during the Middle Ages. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State. The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a one-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. In December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgaria’s transition into a democracy and a market-based economy.
Bulgaria’s population of 7.2 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its 28 provinces. Most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering, and agriculture, all of which rely on local natural resources..
The country’s current political structure dates to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralisation. It is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe; a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); and has taken a seat at the UN Security Council three times.
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