The 33rd Congress of the International Astronaut Association will be held in Budapest on November 1-5. between. At the press conference after the meeting, it was also said that the next Hungarian master navigator will be selected next year.
Péter Sztáray , State Secretary responsible for security policy at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Affairs, stated He said that the government recognized the global importance of a high level of focus on the business opportunities inherent in the space sector. He pointed out that the first Hungarian government space strategy was published this year , the purpose of which is to highlight the strengths and challenges of the sector and formulate priority projects.
These priorities range from the launch of the first Hungarian commercial satellite and the development of the related ground segment, to the strengthening of the educational pillar of space research, to more active participation in international initiatives related to space research, said the State Secretary. He called manned space flight the main priority area of the strategy . He emphasized that the government is committed to sending a research astronaut to the International Space Station in order to conduct Hungarian scientific experiments and test devices in microgravity.
Hungary has quadrupled its budget for space activities since becoming a member of the European Space Agency in 2015 In addition, forms of cooperation are being developed with American companies such as Axiom Space, which is a designated partner in the implementation of the Hungarian astronaut mission.
Traditional cooperation with the Russian Space Agency dates back to the time of the Interkosmosz program, and Hungary has already concluded nine bilateral agreements with other countries, from Brazil to Israel, from Singapore to Turkey.
Oleg Kotov , the president of the association, said that due to the coronavirus epidemic, their event is organized in a hybrid format, partly online. Their goal is to pass on their experiences, with which they would like to enthuse young people and researchers in Hungary about space research. To this end, the participants of the congress meet university and high school students in Budapest, Miskolc, Győr, Debrecen and Kecskemét.
The retired brigadier general and research astronaut Bertalan Farkas, who opened the congress, also said that on the occasion of the Day of the Dead, the participants of the conference will plant a memorial tree in the Városliget in honor of the deceased astronauts.
At the press conference held after the opening Orsolya Ferencz , the ministerial commissioner responsible for space research and space activities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, highlighted that the recruitment of the second Hungarian scientific astronaut mission, the Hungarian to Orbit (Hunor) program, had begun, for which electronically, on the website hunor.gov.hu you can apply until January 31, 2022. The ministerial commissioner said that since it is a scientific mission, in addition to height, weight and other parameters in accordance with international standards, higher education, English and preferably Russian language skills, as well as mental stability and the ability to work in a team are particularly important.
The future Hungarian astronaut will be selected next year , after which the physical preparation and scientific training will take place.
(Header image: Northfoto)
