About

Ukrainian science has always been strong

What it has often lacked is a deliberate connection to resources and institutions abroad. We build those connections, one project at a time.

Our role

Matchmakers

Many good programs already link the United States and Ukraine. Most of them start from a fixed format: a type of grant, a type of exchange, a type of project. Needs that do not fit the format go unmet.

We work the other way around. Ukrainian partners tell us what they need. We look for American experts, technology or universities that fit, check both sides, and make the introduction. Then we help assemble the partners and money that a first pilot requires.

We do not fund research, carry out deployments, or speak for any institution. The work itself belongs to the universities, utilities and companies that do it.

Principles

What we hold to

Civilian only

Every project serves a civilian need: water, energy, education, research. We do not take on defense or military work.

Ukraine sets the agenda

Ukrainian institutions name the problem. We look for American help that fits it.

Education stays rooted at home

Our university programs are built so that Ukrainian students and graduates build their careers in Ukraine.

Independent and nonpartisan

No single government program, in either country, holds up our work. Each project draws its own mix of support, so it can continue through political change.

Start small, prove it, then grow

Each program begins with one pilot. We document what works and what does not, so others can repeat it.

Open about where we are

We are in our first year. We run on volunteer time, and we are setting up a US nonprofit. We work with the recognition and support of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

Our namesake

Oleksandr Shargei and the route to the Moon

Shargei was born in Poltava in 1897. To avoid persecution, he lived most of his life under another name, Yuri Kondratyuk, and that is how histories of spaceflight know him. Working alone, without a laboratory, he worked out how a crew could land on the Moon and come home. He paid to print his book himself. He died fighting in the Second World War in 1942, and a crater on the far side of the Moon now carries his name.

Go home. The reunited ship flies back to Earth. Decades later, Apollo used this plan to land on the Moon. Engineers call it lunar orbit rendezvous.

Why our mark looks the way it does

Kondratyuk's route works because two parts of one ship separate, each does its own job, and they meet again. Our mark is two equal half orbits, one white and one gold, joined at the point where they meet.

Founders

One partner on each side

United States

Paul M. Sutter

Astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University. Author of three books on space and host of the podcast Ask a Spaceman. Paul leads the work with American scientists, universities and companies, and designs our programs.

Ukraine

Igor Pomaz

Lawyer in Kyiv. Igor leads the work with Ukrainian institutions, officials and businesses, and handles legal structure and coordination in Ukraine.

Universities

Where we are building programs

Kyiv Polytechnic InstituteKyiv · paired master's with Drexel University

Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia · letter of interest

Kyiv-Mohyla AcademyKyiv · program in design

Zaporizhzhia PolytechnicZaporizhzhia · program in design

Kyiv Aviation InstituteKyiv · program in design

Work with us

Universities, experts, companies and sponsors can reach us directly.

Get involved