Like many countries of similar size, Hungary must also devote serious attention to the space sector and launch initiatives such as the interdisciplinary UniSpace program to engage young people and mobilise the entire scientific world, the foreign ministry's commissioner for space research said at the Foldgomb (Globe) Festival in Budapest on Saturday.
In 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade restructured the sector and designed Hungary's space strategy by 2021, which was adopted by the government, said Orsolya Ferencz, space researcher and MP of Fidesz.
The MP spoke about the UniSpace program, which was launched with the cooperation of 21 universities, as space exploration involves various disciplines, from natural sciences and engineering to medical, physiological, and pharmaceutical research, or social science disciplines such as security policy, diplomacy or law, the statement said.
She highlighted that the Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) program was launched in 2021 to motivate young people and encourage them to stay in Hungary or return home, as well as to demonstrate that human spaceflight as an area of space exploration is important for Hungary. The program set strict entry requirements for applicants such as a flight medical license, high foreign language proficiency, and a diploma, Orsolya Ferencz said.
Even so, 247 candidates applied successfully, and by March last year, four candidates were selected to start the training,
Orsolya Ferencz recalled.
On May 26 this year - coincidentally, almost to the very minute the rocket lifted off with Hungarian astronaut Bertalan Farkas on board in 1980 - the experts selected two of the four candidates, Tibor Kapu and Gyula Cserenyi, who are currently in Houston doing the final phase of their training, she said.
One goal of the program is to strengthen innovation and research, she said. The other is to make Hungary more visible to international partners in the international world. The latter has already been achieved, as Hungary was the first of the European Space Agency countries to start joint research in the Axiom space mission, she said.
