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Greece advances astronaut mission, launches Hellas‑Space 2.0

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

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2026-08-03 14:12 UTC → 2026-08-07 08:14 UTC · added removed

In late June 2026 Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reaffirmed Greece’s plan to send astronaut‑candidate Adrianos Golemios to the International Space Station within two years, with a stay of up to three weeks. The mission is a flagship of the National Space Strategy 2035 and the Hellas‑Space II programme, financed by roughly €350 million from the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund. During the same period the astronaut trainee met the prime minister at the Maximos Hall, and ESA Director‑General Josef Aschbacher praised Greece’s rapid progress, noting the country’s emergence as a regional hub for satellite design and space research. A nationwide school competition to build PocketQube nanosatellites was launched, creating a student‑run constellation. On 26 June the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence officially unveiled Hellas‑Space 2.0, a four‑year €350 million programme implemented with ESA. It will deliver very‑high‑resolution optical and thermal‑imaging Earth‑observation satellites, secure satellite communications, and space‑surveillance and radio‑frequency monitoring services for civil‑protection, environmental monitoring, maritime security, precision agriculture and public administration. On 7 August 2026 the programme was formally launched by the Ministry of Digital Governance and AI together with the Secretariat General of Telecommunications and Posts and the Hellenic Space Center, reiterating the EU funding and adding innovation labs, data‑service infrastructure and workforce‑development components to strengthen Greece’s domestic space industry and research capacity. Deputy Minister of Development Stavros Kalafatis announced a four‑year extension of the ESA Business Incubation Centre Greece accelerator, increasing grants to €80 000 per startup. The accelerator has already supported 32 startups, created 90 permanent jobs and generated €5.3 million in revenue. Domestic firms are expected to provide more than 70 % of the hardware and software for the upcoming Hyperion GR‑1 launch on SpaceX. Kalafatis also promoted northern Greece, especially Thessaloniki, as a new “Space Hub”, citing projects such as the PeakSat nano‑satellite, AI tools for civil‑protection and local firms developing space‑grade electronics. The programme’s broader aim is to shift Greece from a satellite user to a producer of space infrastructure and to strengthen its role in the European space ecosystem.

Versions

  1. 2026-08-07 08:14 UTC Greece advances astronaut mission, launches Hellas‑Space 2.0
  2. 2026-08-03 14:12 UTC Greece advances astronaut mission, launches Hellas‑Space 2.0
  3. 2026-07-31 23:45 UTC Greece advances astronaut mission, launches Hellas‑Space 2.0
  4. 2026-07-31 08:55 UTC Greece advances astronaut mission, industry and new program

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