Orsolya Ferencz, the foreign ministry’s commissioner for space science, said on Thursday that Hungary has signed a framework agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) on cooperation in its national research astronaut program.
“The Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) research astronaut programme has reached a new milestone,” Ferencz said in a video posted on Facebook. Under the agreement, ESA will offer support for astronaut training as well as for aerospace medicine training and ground control activities, she said. The training of Hungarian astronauts will take place in ESA’s centres in Cologne and the Netherlands, Ferencz added. She said the agreement offered a unique opportunity for Hungary to be the first among the 22 member states to execute its programme as ESA’s official partner. Hungary will send an astronaut to the ISS, with the cooperation of US-based Axiom Space, for a 30-day research mission at the end of 2024 or in early 2025.