Hailing from Hungary and now based in the UK, Viktoria Urban is making significant strides in the space industry.

A former beauty therapist turned journalist, she is the marketing and communications coordinator at Spaceflux Ltd.

Today, Viktoria is training to become a space psychologist.

Her studies focus on examining the psychological impacts of deep space missions on astronauts.

Viktoria’s dynamic and multifaceted career reflects her deep passion for space and is a great example of how the business of space is opening up.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Viktoria’s transition from space journalism to becoming a figure in space communication and psychology.

• The critical importance of psychological assessments in space missions.

• Viktoria’s journey from post-socialist Hungary to participating in the UK’s space sector.

• Insights into the diverse career opportunities in the space industry.

• Where to meet like-minded space-curious people

Quote:

“I was sitting at home, furloughed, bored. And, I thought I might as well look into studying something online. I found the Open University, and they had a course titled Astronomy and Planetary Science”.

- Viktoria Urban

Episode Links:

• Learn more about Viktoria Urban on LinkedIn

• Discover Spaceflux Ltd Website

Credits:

Production by CxS Partners LTD

Executive Producer: Toby Goodman

Audio & Sound Design: Lee Turner

Artwork: Ryan Field

Find your place in the business of space: https://interastra.space

You have to be patient with yourself and, with the community as well because they have to recognize your value. And that's not always easy for people to communicate what their value is. But you have to be patient and persistent, and you will get there.

Hi. I am Viktoria Urban, and you are listening to 'Your Business in Space'. I am a space communicator, and I'm wearing several hats in the space industry at the moment. I used to be a space journalist, but now I work as a marketing and communications coordinator for Spaceflux Ltd in the UK. And I'm training to become a space psychologist, which means I'm going to examine astronauts who go on deep space missions.

It's important to examine astronauts because we haven't really looked into what happens to astronauts' brains, during space missions. We started in the last decade, but, we haven't done it in detail. And, obviously, the psychological effects that space travel has on human beings can determine the success of a space mission. I grew up in Hungary and socialism ended when I was 4 years old. So I grew up thinking that women had more opportunities, but we weren't really encouraged to become scientists. And I think I was around 11 when I first came across a book, an astronomy book that was written by, a woman and her husband. Jacqueline Mison is the woman. She's a British astronomer.

And I had the opportunity to talk to her a few years ago, which was amazing because she's my hero. But that was the first time I saw that, you know, women could achieve things in science. And so I wasn't a space geek. I was taught to become a wife and a mother and, you know, the stereotypical, female roles. Everyone's done that in my family. I think I'm the first rebel of this kind. I liked studying. I always, like studying almost everything.

I was interested in everything. And, I knew I wanted to go to university. I was among the first people in the in the family to do that. And, I studied all kinds of things. I thought I wasn't smart enough to do physics or astronomy. So I studied Italian economics, geography. I I studied all kinds of things. And, eventually, I got a degree in journalism because I like communication.

And, that was exciting, but I didn't really know what to do with it. So for years, I was working different kinds of jobs. I was a bartender. I think most of us go through that phase. I used to work as an executive assistant. Then I become, secretary and head of department at the university. And then COVID came, and I was furloughed. And I was bored because I was always studying and working.

I was always, a very busy person. And, I was sitting home furloughed from my job as a beauty therapist, my day add. So at that point in my life, I was working as a beauty therapist at the destination spa in Scotland. And, that's where I got my journalism degree, but I didn't know what to do with it. So I I went and studied beauty therapy. Anyway, I was sitting at home, furloughed, bored. And, I thought I might as well look into studying something online. And I found the Open University.

And they have a course titled Astronomy and Planetary Science. That's a bachelor's degree course. And I enrolled. I was like, it's now or never. Let's find out if I'm smart enough to do calculus. And, it turns out I am smart enough to do calculus. So I started studying astronomy and attending a lot of online conferences. And I thought I should tell people about the amazing things I learned at these conferences because they're very interesting.

That's where I first heard about space medicine and what happens to astronauts' bodies and mind, in space. So I started writing articles and just sending them off to random newspapers, space magazines, the Open University Space Society newsletter. And in a few months after sending several articles off, I landed myself a job as a space news editor with Spacewatch Global. That was my first gig, and it kind of rolled on from that. The Open University is one of the most amazing, universities on Earth. I say this because they're an online university, very accessible to basically anyone, all over the world. They have a wide variety of courses. Obviously, there are limitations because it's, it's not that easy to learn every single thing online.

Some things are not possible online, I think. But they're doing a great job. They've been doing this for decades. And in a time when everyone was stuck at home and universities were forced to teach everyone online. And they didn't necessarily have the tools to do that and do online exams, EDC. The Open University was already prepared because they've been doing this for decades. Obviously, they have tutorials. They offer 1 on 1 consultations, with the tutors.

So you're taken care of but it's a self study university heavily relying on your ability to manage your own time. Space community is a very accepting and welcoming community. It it is the right place for me and I think for everyone. If you wanna be part of it, you will be welcome no matter your background. Hungary has some history with space exploration, but I wouldn't say that we're the greatest nation within space. But yeah. So you're accepted wherever you go. I started by attending online, meetings.

There was a thing called Spacebar. I think they're still going to do that. Astro Agency in the UK started Spacebar. It was a biweekly get together online. There were always speakers and then it was an interactive thing. We could ask, you know, questions about the research the speakers were doing or how they got into the industry. And and afterwards, after the speakers were gone, obviously, the conversation continued and, we could have some space drinks. And, that's how I started.

So I was just first attending these, not saying a word because I didn't know if, you know, my words would be relevant. And after a while, I got braver and I started contributing and asking questions and no one ever said a bad word. And once I had my online friends, it was easier going to conferences and meeting the same people in person saying that, oh, you're the guy who said this on Space Bar and, I'm the girl who said this about that rocket, blah blah blah. And, yeah, it's a lovely community mainly online because everyone is remote. But at these conferences, we all get together and, we just have a lot of fun. The most amazing space conference, I think, is the IAC, the International Astronomical, Congress. It's, in a different country every year. It's 5 days, 5 days and a bit.

And it's basically just a huge the biggest exhibition there is, in Europe, at least. The biggest exhibition, usually on 2, 3 floors, everyone who counts is there. And there are obviously, talks you can listen to. There are always, extracurricular activities. It's an amazing community. There there are always parties, space themed parties and people in costumes and dressed up as Chewbacca and, you know, all sorts of things. And the other thing I just experienced this year, which was very different especially because I'm a woman was, the Space Symposium in Colorado. That's a very different experience.

It's similar to the IAC, but it's heavily, it's a military heavy, conference. So if you're a woman, it's a very different experience because it's really full of men. The space industry is full of men as it is. But Space Symposium is amazing. But being a woman there, I I would encourage more women to come there. We have to change our numbers there. These 2 are, I think, are the most amazing and most important. When it comes to the business of space, the biggest misconception, I think, is that you can only get into space if you study maths and physics and if you wanna become an astronaut or an engineer.

That's sort of not true. I'm not an astronaut. Don't have the engineer brain. I'm fascinated by rockets. I love talking about rockets and learning about them, but I'm not an engineer. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism at the moment. So you can come into the space industry, whatever your background is. I'm currently training to be a space psychologist.

So if you study psychology, we need you. More and more space stations, commercial space stations will be launched. More and more commercial companies launch people into space, and they're all looking for psychologists, to prepare these people for space travel and, potentially to to do research on them during and after a space flight as well. We need designers. We need to design the habitats, everything they're wearing. We need, biologists, microbiologists in the space sector. We need lawyers. We are just figuring out what to do with satellites because, Earth's orbits are so congested.

That's where Space Flux comes in. Space Flux is a space situation awareness company. So and they're not astronauts either. It started by 2 astrophysicists and a lawyer, getting together and saying that we we need more data, about these things in Earth orbit, low Earth orbit, and, geostationary orbit to make sure that there are no collisions, and we mitigate the space debris issue. So we need all kinds of people. To be successful in space, I believe you need to be passionate about it. I think that's that's the only thing that you need because if you're passionate about it, you'll be motivated to do stuff, to come up with new ideas, to find your place in space, and to find the opportunities that suit you and to to find ways to part your wisdom. Because obviously, everyone's good in something, and you can you can see where that fits into the space business.

The best bit of advice I've been given about the business of space is that you should never give up. Sometimes it's not easy, to get in, so it can be a slow process. You have to be patient with yourself and, with the community as well because they have to recognize your value. And that's not always easy for people to communicate what their value is. But you have to be patient and persistent and you will get there. The opportunities I'm most excited about in the business of space is, I think commercial space travel and commercial space stations, obviously, because there are going to be more people in space. And that's good for me as a space psychologist. But that also means that more people are engaged with space and will learn to appreciate how important it is that we go up there and we do research up there.

It's beneficial for Earth as well. Right now, I work as a marketing and, communication coordinator, as I said, And I'm continuing on my path of communicating about space, how important it is to go up there and do research, and how important it is to know what's going up there. It is beneficial for Earth, for infrastructure, whether we realize it or not. We need space for our everyday life nowadays. We heavily rely on technology, and most of that technology is thanks to those satellites that, orbit Earth. And I am just focusing on my studies while working. I do not want to leave the space industry. That's for sure.

I'm learning constantly learning about what's going up there, which will benefit me later on when I finally become a space psychologist in about 6 years.

I'm Viktoria Urban. You've been listening to 'Your Business in Space'.

All the ways to connect with me are in links in the show notes.

To discover more, head to interastra.space.

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