About cooperation
From November 2022, for the first time since joining ESA, the Czech Republic will be represented in the European astronauts.
After more than 40 years, it can once again participate fully in the space programme and build on its historic achievements. Opportunities for spaceflight to the ISS did not wait long and in April 2023 the Czech Republic, like several other promising European countries, received an offer for a mission to the ISS planned for late 2024.
The programme of astronaut and manned spaceflight has a vital role and makes a significant contribution to the space programme ecosystem. In addition to the involvement of Czech research institutions and universities in cutting-edge international projects whose scientific and technical experiments go to the ISS, this is an opportunity for Czech companies. This would give them the opportunity to test their technologies in the ISS environment and possibly to join the supply chains of European space projects.
Equally important are the educational activities that make up a significant part of ISS missions, which actively involve tens of thousands of primary and secondary school children in the country.
From a purely economic point of view, the space exploration segment, i.e. also the astronaut programme, is a high added value activity. The market for space exploration is expected to increase up to sixfold in the next 15 to 20 years. Last but not least, spaceflight is a huge PR asset whose economic value alone offsets the cost of a space mission. For example, the global reach of ESA's last selection of astronauts was about 1.5 billion people.
What is the ISS?
The ISS is currently the only permanently inhabited space station and has been in space for more than twenty years. The lifetime of the space lab was originally planned to run until 2016, but was gradually extended. Since 2 November 2000, a permanent crew of two to six has been permanently stationed on the station, rotating at regular intervals.
The station is located in orbit at an altitude of about 400 kilometres (400 miles) and orbits the Earth in less than 93 minutes at a speed of about 7,670 m/s (roughly 27,600 km/h).
