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Updated: Shortlisted Applicants for Hungarian Astronaut Programme Presented

• 8 Mar 2023 6:07 AM
• Hungary Matters

Four applicants shortlisted for the Hungarian astronaut programme dubbed Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) were presented on Tuesday, and they will start a two-year training programme, the foreign ministry said.

The four-member team includes a doctor and three engineers, and one of them will spend nearly one month on the international space station, the statement said.

Gábor Magyari, who is in charge of astronaut recruitment and training in HUNOR, told the event that 240 valid applications had been assessed in line with the requirements of the European Space Agency, NASA, the International Space Station and the programme’s private company partner, Axiom Space.

The shortlisted applicants include 33-year-old electrical engineer Gyula Cserényi, 31-year-old space development engineer Tibor Kapu, clinical orthopaedic surgeon Ádám Schlégl and 40-year-old aviation design engineer András Szakály.

Race to Be Next Hungarian in Space Hots Up

Hungary’s shortlist of candidates to become the country’s next astronaut and participate in a 30-day mission at the International Space Station in late 2024 or early 2025 has been narrowed down to four, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.

A shortlist of eight candidates was selected out of more than 240 applicants, who were then tested at the Kecskemét airbase of the Hungarian Armed Forces, Szijjártó said on Facebook.

It was on the basis of these tests that the expert body conducting the selection process narrowed down the list of candidates to four, the minister added.

The Hungarian astronaut’s mission will involve testing Hungarian space equipment on the ISS as well as conducting experiments for Hungarian research groups, Szijjártó said.

The remaining four candidates will be subjected to further training and testing over the coming year, he added.

Projections show the space industry as being one of the fastest-developing sectors of the 21st century, Szijjártó said. Hungary aims to play a part in this with the astronaut programme it has established as part of its space strategy, the minister said.

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Space Race: Last Eight Fight to Become Next Hungarian Astronaut

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