"Europe's Rising Interest in Human Spaceflight Signals New Frontier"

More European countries are expressing interest in human spaceflight as the European Space Agency (ESA) develops proposals for its own human space exploration efforts. Poland has subscribed an additional €295 million ($325 million) to fund a Polish astronaut's flight to the International Space Station (ISS) on a commercial mission, similar to a previous agreement with Sweden. Sweden's Marcus Wandt, a reserve astronaut selected by ESA, has already begun training for an Axiom Space mission to the ISS. Other European countries, such as Italy and Hungary, have also shown interest in short-duration missions to the ISS. ESA is working on proposals for its own human spaceflight programs, including crewed spacecraft and potential commercial space stations and lunar missions. The agency aims to discuss these proposals at a Space Summit in November.