Tamás Iván Kovács, Deputy State Secretary for European Union and International Affairs of the Hungarian Ministry of National Development and Előd Both, head of the Hungarian Space Office represented Hungary at the 3rd European Space Research Conference in Lucca, Italy on 10 November 2011.

At the ministerial conference jointly organised by the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) the delegations of the participating countries approved of a declaration in which they state that in the past 50 years of human space flight, the duties related to space research have become so intricate that they can only be realised in the framework of a wide international cooperation. In connection with the approved conference declaration, the deputy state secretary stressed that India and China, two countries that have made significant achievements in the interest of ambitious space research goals should also be involved in global cooperation to the greatest possible extent.

The two-day conference also accommodated the first meeting of the High-Level International Space Platform (HISEP), which will act, in the future, as a consultative forum to promote strategic cooperation between European countries engaged in space activities.

Although for the time being Hungary was not a member of the European Space Agency, Hungarian researchers had made and would continue to make significant contributions to the success of European Space research, e.g. to Solar System research programmes performed by automatic devices, or the research to ensure the sustainability of the International Space Station - Tamás Iván Kovács recalled during the conference. In his contribution, the deputy state secretary asserted that Hungary paid careful attention to familiarising students with space technological developments and the related university studies, in order to help raise the next generation of European engineers.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)