The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that a Hungarian astronaut will be aboard an Axiom mission to space.
The Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) programme was launched in 2021 with the aim of sending an astronaut to space by 2024. The programme was part of the country’s first space strategy, which aimed to strengthen the country’s international role, among other key objectives.
There are currently four people in the running to be selected for the mission. The selection process attracted 244 candidate applications. Following an initial screening round, 100 applicants (14 women and 86 men) were given an online aptitude test. Approximately 50 applicants then proceeded to the next stage of the selection process, which involved a “competence assessment.” Twenty-six candidates then underwent physical and psychological testing.
Following a twelve-month selection process, the top four candidates were presented to the public on March 7 at a press conference. The four candidates are András Szakály, Dr. Ádám Schlégl, Gyula Cserényi and Tibor Kapu.
All four will undergo training in the United States before the group is narrowed down to two. The candidate selected for the mission will then be announced shortly before the launch date, with the other candidate likely acting as a backup.
The mission itself will be one month long, during which the selected candidate will carry out a number of experiments. A total of Twenty-four project proposals were received from Hungarian aerospace companies, universities, research institutes, and non-profit professional and educational organizations. Eight experiments and twelve Hungarian-developed instruments were selected for the mission.
Correction: A previous version of the article stated that the selected Hungarian astronaut would be a part of the Axiom-5 mission. However, this is not yet confirmed.
