Space and Defense Festival 2026

The final schedule is currently being uploaded

1. Terem

2. Terem

3. Terem

4iG HALL

9:00-9:05

Organizer’s Welcoming Remarks

Dr. Áron FELLEGI

Chairman of the Board, HypeX Consulting Plc.

9:05-9:35

Opening Presentation

Marton NAGY

Minister, Ministry for National Economy, Hungary

09:35-09:50

Main Sponsor Presentation

Dr. István SÁRHEGYI

Chief Executive Officer, 4iG Space & Defence Technologies Plc.

09:50-9:55

Keynote

Szabolcs SZOLNOKI

Deputy State Secretary, Ministry for National Economy

09:55-10:15

Fireside chat

Success in Space: The Future We Build in Space

Gyula CSERÉNYI

Astronaut , HUNOR

Gábor MAGYARI

Business Development and Strategic Partnership Lead, Axiom Space

10:15-11:00

Coffee Break

11:00-11:45

Panel Discussion

The State of the Defense Industry in the CEE Region

Dr. Tamás SZKIBA (Moderator)

Partner, Corporate/M&A, Private Equity;
Head of Defense and Energy in Hungary, Fehérváry Horányi Kovács Baker & McKenzie Attorneys-at-Law

Emre AKIN

Chief Operating Officer, Nurol Makina

Tamás ÉZSIÁS

Managing Director, Airbus GEO

András WEIN

Deputy Chief Executive Officer, HM EI Plc.

Szabolcs SZOLNOKI

Deputy State Secretary, Ministry for National Economy

11:45-12:30

Panel Discussion

Defense Industry Associations in the Visegrad Plus+ Defense Ecosystem

Dr. Máté CSEHI (Moderator)

Senior Manager, HypeX Consulting Plc.

Ervin HARAMIA ​

Vice President for Strategy and Legislation, Association of the Security and Defence Industry of Slovakia​

Goran BASARAC

President, Croatian Defense Industry Competitiveness Cluster

Kristyna HELM

Vice President, Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic

Dr. Zsolt VERON

Defence Industry Association of Hungary

12:30-12:50

Presentation

László DEME

Deputy State Secretary for Defence Planning, Procurement and Innovation Ministry of Defence, Hungary

12:50-13:50

Lunch Break

13:50-14:10

Presentation

Changes in the global financing / investment market and its effects on defence

Péter FEKETE

Vice Chairman, International Business Affairs, 4iG Plc.

14:10-14:30

Presentation

Financing needs of the space and defence industry from the point of view of a Hungarian prime

Dr. István SÁRHEGYI

CEO, 4iG Space and Defence Technologies Plc., Vice Chairman, Government Affairs, Space and Defence

14:30-14:50

Presentation

Strengthening the European defence industry – industrial and institutional perspectives

Pablo GONZÁLEZ SÁNCHEZ-CANTALEJO

Director of NATO and EU Defence Programmes, Indra Group

14:50-15:10

Presentation

What has changed in the EIB’s financing policy and how will it affect the commercial banks?

Stefania CIRAOLO

Head of the European Investment Bank Group office in Hungary

15:10-15:30

Coffee Break

15:30-15:50

Presentation

Opportunities & limits in public financing of space and defence industries

Kornél KISGERGELY

Secretary of State for Public Finance

15:50-16:10

Presentation

ING’s Global Defence Industry Strategy

Krisztina BOGDÁN

Chief Executive Officer, Country Manager, ING Hungary

16:10-17:10

Panel discussion

Best practices in financing defence projects (What makes a defence project bank‑friendly?)

Russell BEST (Moderator)

Senior Advisor, Arthur D. Little

Stefania CIRAOLO

Head of the European Investment Bank Group office in Hungary

Krisztina BOGDÁN

Chief Executive Officer, Country Manager, ING Hungary

Pablo GONZÁLEZ SÁNCHEZ-CANTALEJO

Director of NATO and EU Defence Programmes, Indra Group

Orsolya FÖLDI

Chief Financial Officer, 4iG Space and Defence Technologies Plc.

Zsolt PINTÉR

Chief Country Officer, Deutsche Bank, Hungary

17:10-17:30

Closing keynote

Defence funding as a strategic economic policy driver

Jan HAMÁČEK

External Affairs Director, CSG

Vex Hall

11:00-11:15

Presentation

General Dr. Gábor BÖRÖNDI

Chief of Defence Staff, Hungarian Defence Forces

11:15-11:30

Panel Keynote

Róbert PACHNER

President, Defence Industry Association of Hungary

11:30 – 12:20

Panel Discussion

The Role of Universities within the Defense Industrial Ecosystem

Dr. Lilla BÁNKUTY-BALOGH PhD (Moderator)

Head of the Center for Global Economy at Mathias Corvinus Collegium; Senior Lecturer at Neumann János University

Prof. Dr. Charaf HASSAN

Rector, Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Prof.Dr. Péter GALAMBOS

Vice Rector for Innovation, Óbuda University

Prof. Dr. Zita HORVÁTH

Rector, University of Miskolc

Prof. Dr. Ferenc FRIEDLER

Rector, Széchenyi István University, Győr

12:20-12:50

Panel Discussion

From Policy to Partnership: EU Defence & Space Opportunities for CEE

Ármin LADÁNYI (Moderator)

Managing Director, EU Office, HypeX Consulting Plc.

Martin WILBERG

Head of Defense Team, Kreab Consulting

László JÓNÁS

Managing Director, Design Terminal

Dr. Bernadett PETRI

Ministerial Commissioner for the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development,
Managing Director of the Hungarian Development Promotion Office (MFOI Advisory).

Gergely HORVÁTH

Digital Tech Ecosystem Lead, 28DIGITAL

12:50-13:50

Lunch Break

13:50-14:35

Panel Discussion

Security Above the Horizon: Europe’s Emerging Space Power Architecture

Prof. Dr. Gábor SULYOK (Moderator)

Professor of International Law and Space Law, Széchenyi István University; Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Legal Studies, ELTE Centre for Social Sciences.

H.E. Eng. Salem AL QUBAISI

Director General, UAE Space Agency

Rodrigo DA COSTA

Managing Director, EUSPA

Pascal LEGAI

Senior Security Advisor, European Space Agency (ESA)

Andrea NEMES

Seconded National Expert, EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)

Dr. Zsolt SZALAY

Vice President for STEM (Engineering and Natural Sciences) Affairs, HUN-REN

Giulia Pavesi

Lead on Security & Defence European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)

14:35-14:50

Panel Keynote

Gladden PAPPIN PhD.

President, President, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

14:50-15:35

Panel Discussion

Geopolitics and Strategy in Defense & Space

Endre TIEGER (Moderator)

Analyst, HypeX Consulting Plc.

Dr. Péter TÖRCSI

President, Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation

Lukas WOJDYGA

Director, Warsow Entreprise Institute

Dr. Balázs BARTÓKI-GÖNCZY PhD.

Director of the Institute of Aerospace and Telecommunications Law, University of Public Service

Gladden PAPPIN PhD.

President, President, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

15:35-15:50

Presentation

Gergely BÖSZÖRMÉNYI-NAGY

Founder, Brain Bar

15:50-16:05

Panel Keynote

Prof. Dr. László PALKOVICS

Hungarian Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence

16:05-16:50

Panel Discussion

Strategic Innovation Ecosystems in Emerging Technologies

Theodore S. BOONE (Moderator)

Of Counsel, Dentons Budapest; Member of Faculty, Corvinus University

Prof. Dr. László PALKOVICS

Hungarian Government Commissioner for Artificial Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Shreeram IYER

Chairman of the Board, Prisma AI

Prof. Dr. Gábor SZABÓ

President, ELI-ALPS

Lawrence Aronhime

Lawrence ARONHIME

Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Neumann Hall

11:00-11:45

Panel Discussion

Accelerating Aerospace & Drone Innovation: From Hackathons to Testbeds and Deployment

Tamás PAZSICZKY (Moderator)

Partner, EY-Parthenon, Strategy and Execution

Leo EXTER

Chief Energizer, Hack Belgium Labs

Emilien WATELET

Director, ID2MOVE

Abe MALIK

Director, European Union & Middle East, Tomorrow.io

Kornél SZEPESSY

Business Development Director, PharmaFlight

11:45-12:00

Presentation

Alessandro GROPELLI

Director General, Connect Europe

12:00-12:15

Presentation

Radomir ŠALITROŠ

Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatizaton of the Slovak Republic State Secretary

12:15-12:50

Panel Discussion

Space, Security and Sovereignty: Diplomacy in a New Strategic Era

dr. Csaba GELÉNYI (Moderator)

Amb.Ret.,HypeX Consulting Plc.

H.E. Ilirian KUKA

Ambassador of Albania to Hungary

H.E. Jonathan LACÔTE

Ambassador of France to Hungary

H.E. Tamás Iván KOVÁCS

Ambassador of Hungary to Belgium and Luxembourg

12:50-13:50

Lunch Break

13:50-14:35

Panel Discussion

Space as Infrastructure: Security, Sovereignty and International Cooperation

Péter SIKLÓSI (Moderator)

Senior Research Fellow, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

Borbála TÓTTH

Space Partnership Officer, NATO

Tamás STUKOVSZKY

Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Defence Procurement Agency Hungary

Zoltán NAGY

Chief of Staff, NATO Support & Procurement Agency (NSPA)

Heinrich KRISPLER

Project Officer, European Defence Agency (EDA)

Balázs HENDRICH

Ambassador, HU LP NIF

14:35-14:50

Presentation

Prof. Dr.Gergely DELI

Rector, University of Public Service

14:50-15:35

Panel Discussion

Rising Space Nations: Central Europe’s Role in the New Space Economy

Don KOULAOUZOS (Moderator)

Managing Director at Skytrek Limited

Daniel ŠAGATH

Director, Slovak Space Office-Industry Branch (SARIO)

Balázs ZÁBORI

Chief Technology Officer, Remred Zrt.

Robert NOWICKI

Advisor, Creotech Instruments

Gyula HORVÁTH

Managing Director, C3S Ltd.

Richard PAVLICA

President, Czech Space Alliance

11:40

Panel Discussion

Crossing the Line: Traditionally Civil Companies in the Defense Supply Chain

László BARITS

Head of Defense Business Develeopment Waberer’s Group

Róbert BARÓCSI

Chief Sales and Strategy Officer, KÉSZ Group

Kornél SZEPESSY

Business Development Director, PharmaFlight

TBA

15:35-17:15

Welcome by US Embassy

Caroline SAVAGE

Chargé d’Affaires, US Embassy

Panel Discussion

Joel HANSEN (Moderator)

Director, Regional Hub Office, U.S. Embassy

Gábor MAGYARI

Business Development and Strategic Partnership Lead, Axiom Space

Pamela Huffman

Pamela HUFFMAN

Senior Director, Muon Space

Gábor KIGLICS

General Manager, eCon Engineering Kft.

US Government representative related space (TBC)

Online

13:40

Programme closing

Networking with the companies.