On January 16, 2020, the European Space Agency’s Business Incubator Centre Hungary (ESA BIC Hungary), together with the Gábor Dénes-Awards Club and InnoStudio, held it’s year launch event. Wigner Research Centre for Physics also participated as an organizer in the event.
At the event, Orsolya Ferencz, the minister responsible for space, talked about the government doubling its support for space. She said the reason for the increase in resources is the global appreciation of the area because global problems cannot be solved without the use of space. She also said that there was a reason for cooperation with Russian Federal Space Agency, because “At the moment, only Russia can and will deploy astronauts on the International Space Station internationally,” she said in his opening speech.
Tandi Zsuzsanna, Head of ESA BIC Hungary
“Of course, the primary research tasks of this astronaut will be given by Hungarian companies, Hungarian ideas, and it is our job, specifically, that when he comes back, we will spread these technologies extensively to other industrial sectors” Tandi Zsuzsanna said.
Zsuzsanna Tandi also said that everything in space should be perfect, which has a very positive effect on innovation. And a lot of improvements over time will leak into everyday life, such as using a simple smart watch that used to be space technology. With space travel, Hungarian companies have a greater opportunity to engage in this global technology flow.
Lévai Péter, Director General of the Wigner RCP
István Szabó, Vice President for Science and International Affairs at the National Office for Research emphasized the importance he attaches to the development and utilization of space technologies and expressed his satisfaction with the ESA National Technology Transfer Initiatives (ESA NTTI) and the ESA Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC Hungary).
Dr. József Péter Lévai, Director General of the Wigner Research Centre for Physics, said in his speech that ESA NTTI and BIC are successfully operating in Hungary and he is supporting the continued operation of the organization. He also emphasized in his speech that bringing space technologies to the Earth and utilizing them here is extremely important, as it creates opportunities to improve the life on Earth to a level we cannot imagine right now. He said the supported technology transfer and startup projects are a valuable and necessary part of exploiting these opportunities.
Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian Astronaut
Text and photos: ESA BIC Hungary
