with Expedition 73 Commander
Takuya Onishi (right) On 28 October 2021, the Hungarian government officially announced the HUNOR
(Hungarian to Orbit) programme, which aims to send a Hungarian research astronaut into space for the second time after Bertalan Farkas's
space flight in 1980. The application period for candidates was open until 31 January 2022. He applied to the program on the last day of application period. In March 2023, he was selected into the group of four final candidates together with Gyula Cserényi, András Szakály and Ádám Schlégl. In total, more than 240 people applied for the nationwide astronaut selection process.
Semmelweis University and the facilities at the
Kecskemét Air Base of the
Hungarian Defence Forces played a key role in the selection process. Exactly 44 years after Farkas's launch on
Soyuz 36, on 26 May 2024, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Péter Szijjártó announced that Kapu was selected to be the next Hungarian astronaut, with Gyula Cserényi being his backup. On 24 July 2024, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a press release stating that the agreement between Hungary and Axiom Space was finalized. It was also revealed by Orsolya Ferencz, Ministerial Commissioner for Space Research that Kapu Tibor would fly on the two-week-long Ax-4 mission. On 2 August 2024, the
Polish Space Agency (POLSA) published a press release, confirming the crew of Axiom Mission 4 and their roles. Kapu will be a
mission specialist aboard the
Crew Dragon during the 14-day long spaceflight. Kapu and his backup, Cserényi, flew to
Houston on 1 August 2024, to begin their mission-specific training, while the mission launched on 25 June 2025. He returned to Earth, splashing down into the
Pacific Ocean near the coast of California, on July 15th; and returned to his home country of Hungary about a month later, on August 18th. == References ==