From 1st to 5th November, 2021, Budapest will host the 33rd Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE). Several astronauts, who have already orbited Earth will attend congress by invitation of Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian cosmonaut.
ASE was founded in 1985 by a small group of US, Russian, and international fliers. It’s an international nonprofit organization of over 400 flown astronauts and cosmonauts from 38 nations.
Hosting the conference is another step by the Hungarian government to promote its national space research together with Hungarian universities, research institutes, and businesses.
Several space instruments developed in Hungary have recently been deployed, such as the pocket-class satellites of the Budapest University of Technology and the Pille and Tritel radiation measuring instruments that have been used on the International Space Station.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade had announced this last summer a new milestone in Hungarian space research, following the government’s Space Strategy, of another research astronaut by 2025.
This annual congress of astronauts, now preparing to come to Budapest, is organized by the US-based Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which currently has a membership of around 400 astronauts from 38 countries.
Around half a hundred astronauts are expected to attend the Congress, taking part in professional and educational programs throughout the week.