Welcome to the webpage of the Department for HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) Hungarian Astronaut Programme of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade!
Hungarian space research goes back to nearly 80 years of history; in 1946, physicist Zoltán Bay conducted the famous lunar radar experiment with his own equipment, as doing so he was among the first in the world to measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon using radio waves. Perhaps the most spectacular moment of Hungarian space exploration was in 1980 when Bertalan Farkas became the first Hungarian astronaut in space, which made Hungary the seventh nation that sent man into space. In recent decades, more than a hundred Hungarian devices have served in space, so far without failure, which praises the knowledge of Hungarian engineers.
In recent years, Hungary has multiplied the budget and number of projects devoted to the space domain, including a significant increase of our contribution to the budget of the European Space Agency, where we are members since 2015. We have established a Business Incubation Centre in order to facilitate the incorporation of Hungarian space start-up companies to the European space ecosystem. Hungary is an active participant in the EU Space Programme and contribute to the space debate in other multilateral organizations, including the NATO and the U.N. Committee of the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
In the past couple of years, our Ministry has concluded Memorandums of Understanding with several partner countries or entities (e.g.: Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, Israel, France, Portugal, South Africa, Finland, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Axiom Space, Thales Alenia Space).
In order to support the foreign trade opportunities in the domestic space industry and to strengthen the sector's international cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was responsible for space policy and space activites from 2018 to December 2023. From 2024, several ministries support fields related to space activities.
The government adopted in 2021 its first Space Strategy, whose objectives include:
1. Exploiting the potential in the space sector to foster innovation and sustainable growth;
2. Strengthening Hungary's international role and broadening its external relations;
3. Knowledge-based social and economic conditions and the development of the infrastructural background essential for the prosperity of the space sector.
The space strategy includes our flagship projects for the coming years, including an ambitions research astronaut program. The Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) program aims at sending a Hungarian astronaut to the International Space Station by 2025, equipped with a wide range of Hungarian technological devices and scientific experiments to be performed on board.
Another area of interest is education: we have established a post-graduate education program, called UniSpace Programme, with a broader space-qualification involving 21 Hungarian universities, that enable students pursue horizontal space studies, involving STEM courses, as well as legal and economic subjects related to space.
The Hungarian space sector has grown steadily in recent years, with several companies and research entities involved in projects including the successful development of micro-satellites, space dosimetry systems, satellite communications, material sciences, or experiments in microgravity of COVID-related medicine research. A wide range of Hungarian entities related to the space sector can be viewed at the English-language edition of the Hungarian Space Caleidoscope (link), published in 2024.
The main aim of this governmental microsite is to provide information to the Hungarian public – including companies, research entities and educational institutions – about opportunities and developments in the space sector. In case you have specific enquiries or wish to contact us in English regarding our activities, please direct your email to the following email address: gaxAsnoCM4UgW5c3BhY2VAbWZhLmdvdi5odQ==
