Tibor Kapu () (born 5 November 1991) is a Hungarian

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

. He is flying to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

as a mission specialist on the

Axiom Mission 4 Axiom Mission 4 (Ax‑4) is a private spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) operated by Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX and NASA. It used SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket to place into low Earth orbit. This is the maiden fli ...

(Ax-4) mission which launched 25 June 2025, with Kapu becoming the third Hungarian person to take part in a spaceflight after

Bertalan Farkas Bertalan Farkas (, born August 2, 1949) is the first Hungarian cosmonaut, space explorer and fighter pilot. Hungary became the seventh nation to be represented in space by him. Farkas is also the first Esperantist cosmonaut. He is currently the ...

(1980) and

Charles Simonyi Charles Simonyi (; , ; born September 10, 1948) is a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American software architect. He introduced the graphical user interface to Bill Gates for the first time who later described it as the first of two revolutiona ...

(2007). His spaceflight is organized by the Hungarian state in cooperation with the American space company

Axiom Space Axiom Space, Inc., also known as Axiom Space, is an American privately funded space infrastructure developer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 2016 by former CEO Michael T. Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian, the company first flew a spa ...

Personal life

Tibor Kapu was born on 5 November 1991, in Vásárosnamény, Hungary. He began his studies at the Krúdy Gyula Secondary Grammar School in Nyíregyháza, then followed his father's example and chose a career in mechanical engineering. He completed his bachelor and master studies at the

Budapest University of Technology and Economics The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered ...

. Kapu is a two-time World Junior Championship silver medalist in the logic game ''

Tantrix ''Tantrix'' is a hexagonal Tile-based game, tile-based abstract game invented by Mike McManaway from New Zealand. Each of the 56 different tiles in the set contains three lines, going from one edge of the tile to another. No two lines on a ti ...

''.

Astronaut career

On October 28, 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'

space flight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such a ...

in 1980. The application period for candidates was open until January 31, 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 Semmelweis University (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Semmelweis Egyetem'', ) is a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 1769. With six faculties and a doctoral school it covers all aspects of medical and health sciences. ...

and the facilities at the Kecskemét Air Base of the

Hungarian Defence Forces The Hungarian Defence Forces (, ) is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the army. A subordi ...

played a key role in the selection process. Exactly 44 years after the launch of Soyuz-36, on May 26, 2024, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Péter Szijjártó Péter Szijjártó (; born 30 October 1978) is a Hungarian politician who has been Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hungary), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2014. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ...

announced that Tibor Kapu was selected to be the next Hungarian astronaut, with Gyula Cserényi being his backup. On July 24, 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 Aug 2, 2024, the

Polish Space Agency The Polish Space Agency (POLSA; Polish language, Polish: ''Polska Agencja Kosmiczna'', PAK) is the List of government space agencies, space agency of Poland, administered by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (Poland), Ministry o ...

(POLSA) published a press release, confirming the crew of Axiom Mission-4 and their roles. Kapu will be a

mission specialist Mission specialist (MS) is a term for a specific position held by astronauts who are tasked with conducting a range of scientific, medical, or engineering experiments during a spaceflight mission. These specialists were usually assigned to a s ...

aboard the Crew Dragon during the 14-day long spaceflight. Kapu and his backup, Cserényi, flew to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

on Aug 1, 2024, to begin their mission-specific training, while the mission launched on 25 June 2025.

References

1991 births Living people Hungarian astronauts Hungarian engineers {{People currently in space