Index – Economy – Hungary is really entering the space race

The 4iG Group and REMRED Zrt., a member of the company group, laid the foundation stone of Hungary’s first aerospace manufacturing center in Martonvásár, Fejér County. REMTECH’s manufacturing unit, which is also suitable for production, assembly, integration and testing, will manufacture, assemble and test satellites with a maximum weight of four hundred kilograms using a modular technology that is unique in Europe. In the 4,000-square-meter technology center, a 1,500-square-meter special laboratory will be created, which has ISO8 and ISO5 certified cleanroom technology.

Developments based on competitiveness

Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy spoke at the opening that when the government adopted the first space industry strategy in the country’s history in 2021 and designated the space industry as an important and developing area, many people smiled. And today we are standing here at the laying of the foundation stone for the latest production base of a high-tech company in the space industry, in which 85 new jobs with high added value are planned to be created.

By creating technology centers in new industries, such as electric cars or the space industry, Hungary can participate in the trade war with stronger positions. All such deals strengthen our ability to innovate, which improves our competitiveness, which is extremely important in creating a stable economic environment for the future. The competitiveness strategy adopted by the government also serves this purpose, reminded Márton Nagy.

According to the minister, the goal is for the first satellite to be completed in the new plant in 2027 or 2028. Hungary’s ability to manufacture satellites is not only an economic and security issue, but also a matter of sovereignty, emphasized Márton Nagy. The future of the sector seems certain, since the space industry is one of the world’s fastest-growing and, according to international surveys, crisis-resistant industries, whose value could reach 1,800 billion dollars by 2035, from 630 billion dollars in 2023.

Hungary’s economic ecosystem, infrastructure and intellectual capital make it suitable for becoming a dominant player in the space industry. That is why the investment of the government’s strategic partner, i.e. 4iG, is important, thanks to which the company can strive for a regional leadership role in the space industry in addition to ICT.

Márton Nagy recalled that in the ICT market, the government concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with the 4iG Group, the company undertook HUF 150 billion worth of high-tech development within the framework of the agreement. In addition, the company carries out pioneering developments not only in Hungary, but also abroad, in the Balkans and, most recently, in Egypt, which will gain serious market positions in one of the most important high-tech industries of the future.

The minister drew attention to the fact that the master’s degree in aerospace engineering has already started at the Budapest University of Technology, this education will also be available at the University of Miskolc from next September, and the training of scientific specialists in this field is also planned at ELTE. Design Terminal, which cooperates with the European Space Agency, has long been tasked with incubating space industry startups.

The space technology production center realized as a joint investment of the 4iG Group and REMRED is also a significant initiative from the point of view of the development of technology. With the investment, the company group will have unique capabilities and infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe. The space industry, as part of the technology and defense industry holding company, is the area with the greatest growth potential in addition to the traditional business branches of the 4iG Group – IT, telecommunications – emphasized Jászai Gellért, the president of the 4iG group of companies.

The services and satellite production capacity of the space technology production center will further strengthen the international presence of the 4iG Group and the establishment of new domestic and international partnerships. At the same time, the center will not only be an outstanding domestic base for satellite technology and related space industry developments, but an innovation center in which, in addition to international strategic collaborations, the domestic knowledge industry will also appear. In this way, we can enter a manufacturer’s market that will produce world-class technologies by combining the most modern devices with the latest knowledge, said Gellért Jászai.

There is something to build on

István Sárhegyi, the founder of REMRED, the CEO of the space industry and technology holding company 4iG Group, spoke about the enormous competition in the space industry since the Apollo program, and with the appearance of private capital, this competition has become even stronger – be it telecommunications, climate monitoring or defense about industry.

Over the past decades, launch costs have been drastically reduced, so space industry investments have become available to smaller countries as well as major powers. In addition, smaller states play an increasingly important role in development alongside the great powers. Thus, Hungary also has the opportunity to be a part of space industry developments.

Ever since Zoltán Bay and his group received an echo from the Moon with their experimental radar equipment in 1946, the knowledge of numerous Hungarian specialists has brought success to space industry developments and space research – few people know, but the Kármán line, which is considered the boundary of outer space, is named after Tódor Kármán. István Sárhegyi connected the past and the present when he reminded: the first Hungarian astronaut, Bertalan Farkas, took the Pille radiation measurement device into outer space, and since then REMRED has been involved in the continuous development of the device in addition to KFKI.

Thanks to the investment now taking place in Martonvásár, Hungary can become one of the key players in the global space market in a short time. The CEO said that already during the planning phase of the space industry center, the largest international companies and manufacturing companies offered their cooperation, which proves that there is a huge demand on the international market for the production of space tools and satellites orbiting in low orbit, weighing up to 400 kilograms.

In the 21st century, the space industry and within it the data arriving via satellites, as well as the services based on them, have become part of the critical infrastructure. As a result of the increasingly frequent natural disasters and the European geopolitical and economic situation, accurate, data-based, and immediate information and communication technology is of strategic importance. In recent decades, international conflicts have also highlighted the extent to which a lack of space capabilities can make a country vulnerable in the absence of its own capabilities – adequate infrastructure and knowledge base. The investment launched by the collaboration of the 4iG Group and REMRED – in addition to playing a key role in the Hungarian and international space industry from 2026 – can be a strategic element of national sovereignty and security policy with its technological capabilities, the CEO indicated.

(Cover photo: Balázs Zábori and Márton Nagy / Index)

ON GROWTH AND BALANCE

Be there too!

I AM INTERESTED

Follow Index on Facebook too!

I’m following you!