Greece will put its first astronaut on the International Space Station next July, and officials say the flight is meant to launch a domestic space industry, with satellite makers already building factories in the country.
Adrianos Golemis, 39, a physician and flight surgeon for the European Space Agency, will fly as a mission specialist on Vast-PAM-1, a private mission arranged with NASA.
He joins French astronaut Thomas Pesquet as commander and Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda as pilot aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. His seat awaits final approval by the station's partner agencies.
During about two weeks in orbit, the crew will run 10 or more experiments in medicine, pharmacology and new technology.
"Of course I'm afraid," Mr. Golemis told reporters Thursday. "Everyone is when doing something unprecedented."
He said engineers and doctors have built a safety net, and that "if we trust ourselves and our country, I think it will go well."
The mission's larger purpose came from Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou, who called it a symbol of "hope."
Open Cosmos and ICEYE, two satellite manufacturers that won Greek contracts, have announced factories in Greece, with capacity for 400 and 150 satellites a year.
"This is not an isolated move," Mr. Papastergiou said.
That matters for a country where talented graduates often leave for work abroad. Greece hopes space contracts will bring them home.
The effort is part of a 2035 space strategy and a €350 million Recovery Fund program, and 18 Greek microsatellites already orbit for fire prevention, civil protection and maritime surveillance.
Greece is also staking its prestige on the flight.
It would join the small group of countries whose first astronaut flew only in recent years.
The public will soon be asked to name the mission.