Ever wondered what Hungarian researchers and engineers are up to at the European Space Agency? Want to get an insider’s perspective on what it is like to send a satellite to space? Tomorrow night the Friends of Hungary Foundation, publisher of Hungary Today and our sister site Ungarn Heute, will co-host an event where those interested can dive into the future of Hungarian space research and get all their questions answered.
The ‘SpACE Hungary: The Future of Hungarian Space Research’ is hosted by ‘Future: Hungary,’ an organization which aims to connect Hungarian students in the UK and those in the Hungarian labor market by creating a link of information. As part of a series of webinars, the event is hopefully the first of many future events co-hosted by ‘Future: Hungary’ and the Friends of Hungary Foundation.
The event will be held on Wednesday, at 6 pm (GMT+2) online and anyone will be able to join for a truly futuristic afternoon discussion and learn about opportunities in the field from leading industry professionals. President of ‘Future: Hungary’ and Cambridge graduate Róbert Panyi will be in conversation with Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner, and university professor András Gschwindt.
Among other things, Panyi will ask the first speaker of the SpACE Hungary event, Ministerial Commissioner Orsolya Ferencz, about the Hungarian government’s investment in space research. Back in July, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary has gained enough experience in the space industry over the past years to be in a position to become a key player in the sector. In the future, the government will spend HUF 10 billion over the next three years to be able to launch a Hungarian astronaut into space in 2024.
The second speaker of the event is András Gschwindt, university professor and Project Manager of MaSat-1, who will talk about Hungarian achievements in space. The MaSat-1 (from the words Magyar and satellite) is the first indigenous Hungarian satellite developed and built by students at the Technical University of Budapest. The 1U CubeSat-type satellite was launched into low Earth orbit on February 13, 2012. The satellite provided telemetric data as well as VGA resolution color images at the 70 cm amateur radio wavelength (437.345 MHz frequency) received at the tracking center in Budapest. The center was tested on March 31, 2009 with the help of Charles Simonyi on board the International Space Station. With the successful launch of MaSat-1, Hungary became the 47th nation to orbit a satellite. Between January 9-10, 2015, the satellite reentered into the atmosphere.
Last December, two Hungarian satellites were launched into space, and are operating according to plan. The ATL-1 and SMOG-P satellites were put into orbit on an Electron rocket of US-based Rocket Lab on December 6th. They are now traveling around the Earth at a speed of 7.2 km per second in an elliptical orbit at a height of 350-400 km. Since then, another satellite, SMOG-1, developed by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics with financing from the Foreign Ministry, has been completed and presented at the Italian Space Agency (ASI) research institute in Rome. It is planned to be put into orbit in November.
How to attend the ‘SpACE Hungary’ event?
The event will take place online. You can register here or watch it live tomorrow at 6 pm (GMT+2) on the Facebook page of Hungary Today.
featured photo: SpACE:Hungary event
