Sergey Alekseevich Sopov

Sergey Alekseevich Sopov (Russian: Сергей Алексеевич Сопов, IPA: [ sʲɪrˈɡʲej aɭʲiksʲˈejivʲit͡ʃʲ sˈopʌf]; 15 July 1957, Verkhneuralsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, USSR) is a prominent Soviet and Russian spacecraft engineer and aerospace industry leader, currently serving as CTO at Aspire Space Technologies S.A.

Sergey Sopov was the founder and first head of the Space Research Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1991–1993), CEO of the state aerospace company Coscom (1993–1995), CEO of Avialeasing Aviation Company (1996–2015), CEO of Perm Engines Corporation (2001–2013), Head of Sea Launch multinational spacecraft launch company (2015–2019), CEO of S7 Space LLC (2016–2019).

At the moment, Sergey Sopov is engaged in the creation of a new space transportation system as the CTO at Aspire Space Technologies S.A.

Life and career
In 1979, Sergey Sopov graduated from the Perm Higher Military Command and Engineering School (now the Perm Military Institute of Missile Forces) with a degree in Automated Command and Control Systems for Missile Systems.

After graduation, he served at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where he was responsible for the testing of onboard systems of the Almaz orbital station. He then went on to become Head of Pre-launch automated control systems unit working for the Energia launch vehicle, and then Head of the Systems integration test laboratory of the Energia-Buran programme. In 1987, Sopov supervised the fuelling of the Energia heavy-lift launch vehicle during its first launch with the Polyus spacecraft. In 1988, Sopov played a key role in Historic launch of Energia-Buran reusable space transportation system, being a leader of preparation and launch team. Sergey Sopov developed the procedure for the pre-launch preparation of RSTS systems of the Buran (MTKS 1K11K25) series.

In 1991, Sopov played a key role in the establishment of the Kazakhstan Space Research Agency and the transfer of the management of Baikonur Cosmodrome to the Kazakhstan government. Subsequently, he was responsible for the lease of the Baikonur complex to the Russian Federation. Sergey Sopov is the student of Boris Gubanov, a prominent Soviet engineer and leading designer of the Energia launch vehicle. Jointly with his professor, Sopov designed the Dnepr launch vehicle based on SS-18 missiles. He also developed a project of transforming the Kazakh part of Baikonur into an international cosmoport. Between 1995 and 2015, Sergey Sopov was the CEO and chairman of the board at Perm Engines Corporation as well as CEO and Chairman of the Boart at Avialeasing Aviation Company. In 2016, Sopov established S7 Space LLC and supervised the acquisition of the Sea Launch complex as well as the new system for the operation of Sea Launch facilities at Long Beach, California.

In December 2017, S7 Space under Sergey Sopov performed its first commercial launch at Baikonur: an Angosat 1 communications satellite on a Zenit carrier rocket. In 2017, Sopov developed the concept of an Orbital Cosmodrome project, while in 2018 he laid out the main provisions for the implementation of reusable space transportation systems at Baikonur, an endeavour that earned him the Sergei Korolev Order of the Russian Space Federation.

To further this project, Sergey Sopov established MTKS (“Reusable Space Transport Systems”) LLC that set out to design a reusable cargo vehicle, Argo, and a launch vehicle with a reusable first stage. The project was put on hold in 2022.

Awards
Medal for Distinguished Labour, Medal for Impeccable Service, Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945", Sergei Korolev Order of the Russian Space Federation, Sergei Korolev Medal of the Russian Space Federation.