The Hungarian presidency of the European Union will aim to launch negotiations on EU space law, the foreign ministry’s commissioner for space research said on Monday. Speaking at a science and technology conference at Óbuda University, Orsolya Ferencz said that, among other goals, Hungary will aim to conduct an interim assessment of the EU’s space programme and strengthen European space competencies. The commissioner welcomed the EU’s recognition of the importance of bolstering its space competency, pointing out the rate of development in the global space industry. “21st century history is being written in space,” Ferencz said, noting that the EU plans to put space research in the focus of its science and innovation policy. She noted that after 40 years Hungary was getting ready to send an astronaut to space again under its Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) programme.