The organized participation of Bulgarian scientists in space research started in 1969 with the creation of a Scientific Group of Space Physics (SGSP) at the Presidium of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1974, based on the SGSP, the Central Laboratory for Space Research (CLSR) was founded. The Space Research Institute (SRI) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences succeeded the Central Laboratory for Space Research in 1987. Under the reform carried out at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, by a Resolution of the General Assembly of the BAS of 23 March 2010, the SRI and the Solar-Terrestrial Influences Institute (STII) merged to form a new unit – the Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research Institute at the BAS (SSTRI–BAS) renamed in 2012 to Space Research and Technology Institute (SRTI).