Szijjarto: Eight competing to become next Hungarian astronaut
Hungary’s largest space programme to date has a budget of 100 million dollars, Szijjarto said. The astronaut, to be selected a few weeks before the mission’s launch, will test 12 Hungarian devices and conduct 8 experiments for Hungarian research groups, he said.
Szijjarto also signed an agreement with ESA, which will allocate 4 billion forints of support over five years to Hungarian SMEs to help them prepare the technological background for participating in large European projects.
In the past decade, some 140 Hungarian-made devices have been shot into space, and all have accomplished their mission, he said.
Hungary supports the ESA in strengthening Europe’s role in the world space industry, he said. The “peaceful use of space” boosts companies with large value-added, which have a large role in the present times of crisis, he said. “Access to space is also a matter of sovereignty,” he said.