Yaroslav Pustovyi

Yaroslav "Yarko" Pustovyi (; born 29 December 1970) is a former Ukrainian astronaut and Canadian businessman. For his post-secondary education, he graduated from the A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy in 1993 with a Master of Science. Specializing in radio science, Pustovyi additionally earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the National University of Kharkiv in 1997.

Career Pustovyi started his career as a first lieutenant in the Ukrainian Air Force during the 1990s. While attending university at Kharkiv, he worked at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine as an electromagnetism researcher. With his family, Pustovyi moved to Barrie, Ontario in 2007 and worked in security. A couple of years later, he became a co-founder of Space 1 Systems in 2009. In 2014, Pustovyi joined the Canadian Space Commerce Association as a board member and later became the organization's president that year.

Awards In January 1998, he was given the Ukrainian Order of Merit of third degree.

Personal life In October 2011, the Pustovyi family received Canadian permanent residency and permanently settled in Simcoe County. Pustovyi is married to Olesia Pustova and has three children, Anastasiia, Oksana and Amélie, all of whom grew up in Canada. Pustovyi is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English, and French.