The Planetarium 1 team and YotaLab are developing the first Russian planetarium apparatus

Planetarium 1 and the open laboratory YotaLab, with the support of the Innovation Promotion Fund, have completed the first stage of development of the domestic planetarium apparatus. The first two devices will be installed in the fall in the educational center “Sirius” in Sochi and in the “Planetarium 1” on the Obvodny channel in St. Petersburg.

The optical-mechanical apparatus is paired with a digital projection system, which allows you to broadcast a high-precision and bright picture of the starry sky to the dome. The device will show up to 10,000 stars, and also have 9 planet projectors and separate lenses to display the Milky Way.

At present, 56 stationary planetariums operate in Russia, but only 12 of them have installed modern equipment. The development of Planetarium 1 and YotaLab will replace foreign analogues. Its installation will cost 20-50 million rubles, which is 2-10 times cheaper than the cost of foreign devices (the cost of imported counterparts reaches 500 million rubles).

Evgeny Gudov, creator of the world’s largest “Planetarium No. 1” and Yota Lab: “It is extremely important for us to create a domestic apparatus in order to modernize obsolete equipment in Russian planetariums and breathe new life into them. Planetariums are one of the most visited museums in the country and motivate the younger generation to engage in science and technology. The first two pilot devices will be installed in our Planetarium in St. Petersburg and the Sirius educational center in Sochi. Thanks to the Innovation Support Fund, we started work a year earlier and plan to fully complete them already in September 2019 ”

Residents of Yota Lab and Planetarium 1 are the only team in the world providing a full cycle of design (including architectural monuments), construction, equipment of planetariums, as well as the development of full-domed multimedia content.