He was the first Czechoslovakian to become a cosmonaut, and the first person in space from a country other than Russia or the USA. Selected in 1976, he had one flight, in March 1978, as a research cosmonaut aboard Soyuz 28 as it formed a working unit in space with Soyuz 27 and Salyut 6. Remek left the cosmonaut programme in 1978.