On Tuesday, November 24, at the age of 70, a well-known figure in the space industry of Ukraine, general director of the state enterprise Yuzhnoye Design Bureau named after M. K. Yangel, the academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Olexander Viktorovich Degtyarev.
Olexander Viktorovich devoted his life to the matter of rocket and space engineering, namely, the creation of new models of rockets and rocket complexes, spacecraft, rocket engines, the development and implementation of the latest technologies. His personal contribution to the development of international cooperation in the field of space activities is significant, in the organization and implementation of a number of complex and large-scale international projects, in particular, such as Sea Launch, Land Launch, Dnipro.
Throughout his career, since 1975, Olexander Viktorovich Degtyarev worked at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, where he rose from an engineer to a general designer – general director. In recent years, he served as the general director of the company.
Under the leadership of Olexandr Viktorovich Degtyarev, Yuzhnoye Design Bureau not only retained the status of the flagship of the Ukrainian space industry, but also actively developed, looking for new areas of work – from organizing its own experimental production facilities and new production cooperation in the development and promotion of ambitious international space programs.
The name of Olexander Viktorovich was well known in the world professional community, and he himself was respected by his colleagues and enjoyed a well-deserved authority among them. This was evidenced by the election of Olexander Viktorovich as the academician of the International Academy of Astronautics and Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation. Thanks to his active position and energetic personal efforts, it became possible for Ukraine to participate in international industrial cooperation in such well-known projects as «Antares» and «Vega».
Olexandr Viktorovich Degtyarev paid considerable attention to the development of relations with Yuzhmash, with which DB «Yuzhnoye» has a common history and close cooperation. In recent years, the most promising areas of such cooperation have become a number of defense-oriented and motor-related projects, with which both of our teams link their plans for a common future. Therefore, the news of the death of Olexander Viktorovich was deeply saddened among the workers of Yuzhmash.
YUZHMASH expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends, colleagues of Olexander Viktorovich Degtyarev.
