Slovak astrobiologist Michaela Musilová will join the international crew of the First European Commercial Mission (ECM1), a privately funded suborbital space flight planned for the second half of 2027. The crew will include Czech project leader René Šír, two Polish members and a German astronaut, who is yet to be announced.
The mission draws on Central Europe’s spaceflight heritage, dating back to 1978, when Czechoslovak astronaut Vladimír Remek became the first person from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States to travel into space. Poland and East Germany followed that year under the Soviet-led Interkosmos programme.
ECM1 aims to build on this legacy through private enterprise and scientific research. Musilová is helping prepare potential experiments, which must pass scientific and technical checks before being approved for the flight. The project is also the subject of a feature-length film documenting the mission’s development and preparations.
Source: TASR
