European Astronaut Corps

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Template:Short description The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency (ESA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on U.S. and Russian space missions. The corps has 13 active members, able to serve on the International Space Station (ISS). The European Astronaut Corps is based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They can be assigned to various projects both in Europe (at ESTEC, for instance) or elsewhere in the world, at NASA Johnson Space Center or Star City.

History

Template:Excerpt

Current members

As of 2024 there are eleven active members of the European Astronaut Corps. Five were selected in 2009, one was selected in 2015, and the remaining five selected in 2022.

Name Country Selection Time in space Missions
Samantha Cristoforetti File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy 2009 ESA Group 370d 5h 45m Soyuz TMA-15M (Expedition 42/43), Crew-4 (Expedition 67/68)
Alexander Gerst File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany 2009 ESA Group 362d 1h 50m Soyuz TMA-13M (Expedition 40/41), Soyuz MS-09 (Expedition 56/57)
Andreas Mogensen File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 2009 ESA Group 208d 22h 34m Soyuz TMA-18M/16M, Crew-7 (Expedition 69/70)
Luca Parmitano File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy 2009 ESA Group 366d 23h 1m Soyuz TMA-09M (Expedition 36/37), Soyuz MS-13 (Expedition 60/61)
Thomas Pesquet File:Flag of France.svg France 2009 ESA Group 396d 11h 34m Soyuz MS-03 (Expedition 50/51), Crew-2 (Expedition 65/66)
Matthias Maurer File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany 2015 ESA Group 176d 2h 39m Crew-3 (Expedition 66/67)
Rosemary Coogan File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0m N/A
Sophie Adenot File:Flag of France.svg France 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0m N/A
Pablo Álvarez Fernández File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0m N/A
Raphaël Liégeois File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0m N/A
Marco Sieber File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2022 ESA Group 0d 0h 0m N/A

All of the current members of the corps, other than the 2022 ESA Group, have flown to space and have visited the ISS. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet is the member of the corps who has accumulated the most time in space with 396 days, 11 hours and 34 minutes. He is the record holder for all the European astronauts in history. The corps currently includes Samantha Cristoforetti, who formerly held the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Timothy Peake, a member of the 2009 group, retired in 2023.[1]

2009 Group

On 3 April 2008, ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain announced that recruiting for a new class of European astronauts will start in the near future.[2] The selection program for 4 new astronauts was launched on 19 May 2008 with applications due by 16 June 2008Script error: No such module "Unsubst". so that final selection would be due spring 2009.[3] Almost 10,000 people registered as astronaut candidates as of 18 June 2008. 8,413 fulfilled the initial application criteria. From these 918 were chosen to take part in the first stage of psychological testing which led to 192 candidates on 24 September 2008. After two stage psychological tests 80 candidates continued on to medical evaluation in January–February 2009. 40 or so candidates head to formal interviews to select four new members to European Astronaut Corps.[3]

2022 Group

Recruitment for the 2022 ESA Astronaut Group took place over 2021–22 and added five "career" astronauts as well as for the first time a "reserve pool" of 11 astronaut candidates, and also a person with a physical disability through the "parastronaut feasibility project".[4][5]

In June 2023, Marcus Wandt, originally a reserve astronaut, was selected for Axiom Space mission and transitioned to "project" astronaut.[6] This later was set in place for Polish reserve astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski.

Name Country Role
Sophie Adenot[7] File:Flag of France.svg France Career astronaut
Pablo Álvarez Fernández[8] File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain Career astronaut
Rosemary Coogan[9] File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Career astronaut
Raphaël Liégeois[10] File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Career astronaut
Marco Alain Sieber[11] File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Career astronaut
John McFall[12] File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Parastronaut
Meganne Christian[13] File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom Astronaut reserve
Anthea Comellini[14] File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy Astronaut reserve
Sara García Alonso[15] File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain Astronaut reserve
Andrea Patassa[16] File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy Astronaut reserve
Carmen Possnig[17] File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria Astronaut reserve
Arnaud Prost[18] File:Flag of France.svg France Astronaut reserve
Amelie Schoenenwald[19] File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany Astronaut reserve
Aleš Svoboda[20] File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Astronaut reserve
Sławosz Uznański[21] File:Flag of Poland.svg Poland Project astronaut
Marcus Wandt[22] File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Project astronaut
Nicola Winter[23] File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany Astronaut reserve

The funding by NASA and Russia of the International Space Station is currently planned to end in 2030. Thanks to their involvement with NASA's Orion programme, ESA will receive three flight opportunities for European astronauts to the Lunar Gateway.[24]

Former members

There are 18 former members of the ESA astronaut corps.[25]

Some ESA astronauts were selected by other European agencies and then enrolled into the European Astronaut Corps in 1998. Template:Sticky header

Name Country Selection Time in space Missions
Hans Schlegel Template:Flagicon Germany 1987 DLR Group 22d 18h 01m STS-55, STS-122
André Kuipers Template:Flagicon Netherlands 1998 ESA Group 203d 15h 50m Soyuz TMA-4/3, Soyuz TMA-03M (Expedition 30/31)
Christer Fuglesang Template:Flagicon Sweden 1992 ESA Group 26d 17h 37m STS-116, STS-128
Léopold Eyharts Template:Flagicon France 1990 CNES Group 68d 21h 28m Soyuz TM-27/26, STS-122/123 (Expedition 16)
Jean-François Clervoy Template:Flagicon France 1992 ESA Group 28d 03h 04m STS-66, STS-84, STS-103
Maurizio Cheli Template:Flagicon Italy 1992 ESA Group 15d 17h 41m STS-75
Pedro Duque Template:Flagicon Spain 1992 ESA Group 18d 18h 46m STS-95, Soyuz TMA-3/2
Reinhold Ewald Template:Flagicon Germany 1990 DLR Group 19d 16h 34m Soyuz TM-25/24
Umberto Guidoni Template:Flagicon Italy 1989 ASI Group 27d 15h 10m STS-75, STS-100
Claudie Haigneré née André-Deshays Template:Flagicon France 1985 CNES Group 25d 14h 22m Soyuz TM-24/23, Soyuz TM-33/32
Jean-Pierre Haigneré Template:Flagicon France 1985 CNES Group 209d 12h 24m Soyuz TM-17/16, Soyuz TM-29 (Mir EO-27)
Ulf Merbold Template:Flagicon Germany 1978 ESA Group 49d 21h 36m STS-9, STS-42, Soyuz TM-20/19 (Euromir 94)
Marianne Merchez Template:Flagicon Belgium 1992 ESA Group N/A N/A
Ernst Messerschmid Template:Flagcountry 1982 DLR Group 7d 00h 44m STS-61-A
Paolo Nespoli Template:Flagicon Italy 1998 ESA Group 313d 02h 36m STS-120, Soyuz TMA-20 (Expedition 26/27), Soyuz MS-05 (Expedition 52/53)
Claude Nicollier Template:Flagicon Switzerland 1978 ESA Group 42d 12h 03m STS-46, STS-61, STS-75, STS-103
Wubbo Ockels Template:Flagicon Netherlands 1978 ESA Group 7d 00h 44m STS-61-A
Philippe Perrin Template:Flagicon France 1990 CNES Group 13d 20h 35m STS-111
Thomas Reiter Template:Flagicon Germany 1992 ESA Group 350d 05h 35m Soyuz TM-22 (Mir EO-20), STS-121/116 (Expedition 13/14)
Gerhard Thiele Template:Flagicon Germany 1987 DLR Group 11d 05h 38m STS-99
Michel Tognini Template:Flagicon France 1985 CNES Group 18d 17h 45m Soyuz TM-15/14, STS-93
Frank de Winne Template:Flagicon Belgium 1998 ESA Group 198d 17h 34m Soyuz TMA-1/TM-34, Soyuz TMA-15 (Expedition 20/21)
Roberto Vittori Template:Flagicon Italy 1998 ESA Group 35d 12h 26m Soyuz TM-34/33, Soyuz TMA-6/5, STS-134
Timothy Peake File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 2009 ESA Group 185d 22h 11m Soyuz TMA-19M (Expedition 46/47)

Heads of the EAC

The following people (all retired or active duty astronauts) have served as Head of the European Astronaut Corps.

Template:Sticky header

Name Country Years Served Missions Flown
Ernst Messerschmid[26] Template:Flagicon Germany 2000-2004 STS-61-A
Michel Tognini[27] Template:Flagicon France 2005-2011 Soyuz TM-15/14, STS-93
Frank de Winne[28] Template:Flagicon Belgium 2012-2025 Soyuz TMA-1/TM-34, Soyuz TMA-15 (Expedition 20/21)
Andreas Mogensen[29] File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 2025-present Soyuz TMA-18M/16M, Crew-7 (Expedition 69/70)

European astronauts outside of ESA

Interkosmos

Ten Europeans became astronauts within the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program, which allowed citizens of allied nations to fly missions to the Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and Mir space station.

Space Shuttle

NASA trained and flew astronauts from allied nations on the Space Shuttle, especially as payload specialists for scientific missions such as Spacelab. Prior to the foundation of the ESA astronaut corps, both the French CNES and the German DLR had selected their own rosters of astronauts, notably in preparation for the introduction of the ISS. The following people flew on various Shuttle missions.Template:Efn

Template:Notelist

Russian Mir missions

The following people flew on missions to Mir under agreements between their nations and Russia.

Private spaceflight

Hungary developed their own independent Astronaut Program, HUNOR or the Hungarian to Orbit program, to select and train a Hungarian astronaut (Tibor Kapu), and backup (Gyula Cserényi), for the private Axiom Mission 4. As such, despite being astronauts of the Hungarian Space Office, neither are members of the European Astronaut Corps.

Space Shuttle missions

Astronauts from the European Astronaut Corps participated in several NASA Space Shuttle missions before the ISS era, in particular as Spacelab payload specialists. NASA considered the full-time ESA astronauts as payload specialists, but offered some the opportunity to train with its own astronauts and become NASA mission specialists.[30] (This list excludes missions to Mir or the ISS)

As Payload Specialists

  • Ulf Merbold – STS-9 (Spacelab), STS-42 (Spacelab)
  • Reinhard Furrer – STS-61-A (Spacelab-D1 Mission)
  • Wubbo Ockels – STS-61-A (Spacelab-D1 Mission)
  • Hans Schlegel – STS-55 (Spacelab-D2 Mission)
  • Ulrich Walter – STS-55 (Spacelab-D2 Mission)

As Mission Specialists

Missions to the Mir space stations

Astronauts from Europe have flown to Mir both on board Soyuz vehicles (as part of the Euromir programme) or on board the Space Shuttle.[31]

Missions to the International Space Station

European astronauts to have visited the ISS are: Template:Sticky header

Astronaut Agency Mission Launch Return Expedition Launch Date Return Date Note
Template:Flagicon Umberto Guidoni ESA STS-100 STS-100 Expedition 2 19 Apr 2001 1 May 2001 Flight 6A with MPLM Raffaello, visited Expedition 2 crew
Template:Flagicon Claudie Haigneré CNES Andromède Soyuz TM-33 Soyuz TM-32 Expedition 3 21 Oct 2001 31 Oct 2001 Visited Expedition 3 crew
Template:Flagicon Roberto Vittori ESA Marco Polo Soyuz TM-34 Soyuz TM-33 Expedition 4 25 Apr 2002 5 May 2002 Visited Expedition 4 crew
Template:Flagicon Philippe Perrin CNES STS-111 STS-111 Expedition 4/5 5 Jun 2002 19 Jun 2002 ISS Assembly Flight UF-2, launched with Expedition 5 crew and landed with Expedition 4 crew
Template:Flagicon Frank De Winne ESA Odissea Soyuz TMA-1 Soyuz TM-34 Expedition 5 30 Oct 2002 10 Nov 2002 Visited Expedition 5 crew
Template:Flagicon Pedro Duque ESA Cervantes Soyuz TMA-3 Soyuz TMA-2 Expedition 7/8 18 Oct 2003 28 Oct 2003 Launched with Expedition 8 crew landed with Expedition 7 crew,
Template:Flagicon André Kuipers ESA DELTA Soyuz TMA-4 Soyuz TMA-3 Expedition 8/9 19 Apr 2004 30 Apr 2004 Launched with Expedition 8 crew, landed with Expedition 8 crew
Template:Flagicon Roberto Vittori ESA Eneide Soyuz TMA-6 Soyuz TMA-5 Expedition 10/11 15 Apr 2005 24 Apr 2005 Launched with Expedition 11 crew, landed with Expedition 10 crew
Template:Flagicon Thomas Reiter ESA Astrolab STS-121 STS-116 Expedition 13/14 4 Jul 2006 22 Dec 2006 ISS Assembly Flight ULF 1.1, first European to live on the ISS as flight engineer on Expedition 13 and 14
Template:Flagicon Christer Fuglesang ESA Celsius STS-116 STS-116 Expedition 14 10 Dec 2006 22 Dec 2006 ISS Assembly Flight 12A.1, visited Expedition 14 crew
Template:Flagicon Paolo Nespoli ESA Esperia STS-120 STS-120 Expedition 16 23 Oct 2007 7 Nov 2007 ISS Assembly Flight 10A, visited Expedition 16 crew
Template:Flagicon Hans Schlegel ESA Columbus STS-122 STS-122 Expedition 16 7 Feb 2008 20 Feb 2008 ISS Assembly Flight 1E, visited Expedition 16 crew
Template:Flagicon Léopold Eyharts ESA Columbus STS-122 STS-123 Expedition 16 7 Feb 2008 27 Mar 2008 ISS Assembly Flight 1E, second European to live on the ISS as flight engineer on Expedition 16
Template:Flagicon Frank De Winne ESA OasISS Soyuz TMA-15 Soyuz TMA-15 Expedition 20/21 27 May 2009 1 Dec 2009 Flight engineer on Expedition 20, first European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 21
Template:Flagicon Christer Fuglesang ESA AlISSé STS-128 STS-128 Expedition 20 29 Aug 2009 12 Sep 2009 ISS Assembly Flight 17A, visited Expedition 20 crew
Template:Flagicon Paolo Nespoli ESA MagISStra Soyuz TMA-20 Soyuz TMA-20 Expedition 26/27 15 Dec 2010 24 May 2011 Flight engineer on Expedition 26 and 27
Template:Flagicon Roberto Vittori ESA DAMA STS-134 STS-134 Expedition 27/28 16 May 2011 1 Jun 2011 Visited Expedition 27 and 28
Template:Flagicon André Kuipers ESA PromISSe Soyuz TMA-03M Soyuz TMA-03M Expedition 30/31 21 Dec 2011 1 Jul 2012 Flight engineer on Expedition 30 and 31
Template:Flagicon Luca Parmitano ESA Volare Soyuz TMA-09M Soyuz TMA-09M Expedition 36/37 28 May 2013 11 Nov 2013 Flight engineer on Expedition 36 and 37, first member of the 2009 ESA astronaut class to fly
Template:Flagicon Alexander Gerst ESA Blue Dot Soyuz TMA-13M Soyuz TMA-13M Expedition 40/41 28 May 2014 10 Nov 2014 Flight engineer on Expedition 40 and 41
Template:Flagicon Samantha Cristoforetti ESA Futura Soyuz TMA-15M Soyuz TMA-15M Expedition 42/43 23 Nov 2014 11 Jun 2015 Flight engineer on Expedition 42 and 43, Longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut
Template:Flagicon Andreas Mogensen ESA IrISS[32] Soyuz TMA-18M Soyuz TMA-16M Expedition 44 2 Sep 2015 12 Sep 2015 Visited Expedition 44 crew, first Danish astronaut
Template:Flagicon Timothy Peake ESA Principia[33] Soyuz TMA-19M Soyuz TMA-19M Expedition 46/47 15 Dec 2015 18 June 2016 Flight engineer on Expedition 46 and 47
Template:Flagicon Thomas Pesquet ESA Proxima[34] Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz MS-03 Expedition 50/51 17 Nov 2016 16 May 2017 Flight engineer on Expedition 50 and 51
Template:Flagicon Paolo Nespoli[35] ESA Vita Soyuz MS-05 Soyuz MS-05 Expedition 52/53 28 July 2017 14 December 2017 Flight engineer on Expedition 52 and 53
Template:Flagicon Alexander Gerst ESA Horizons Soyuz MS-09 Soyuz MS-09 Expedition 56/57 6 June 2018 20 December 2018 Flight engineer on Expedition 56, second European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 57
Template:Flagicon Luca Parmitano ESA Beyond Soyuz MS-13 Soyuz MS-13 Expedition 60/61 20 July 2019 6 February 2020 Flight engineer on Expedition 60, third European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 61
Template:Flagicon Thomas Pesquet ESA Alpha SpaceX Crew-2 SpaceX Crew-2 Expedition 65/66 23 April 2021 9 November 2021 Flight engineer on Expedition 65, fourth European to command the ISS as commander of the final part of Expedition 65 and the first part of Expedition 66.
Template:Flagicon Matthias Maurer ESA Cosmic Kiss SpaceX Crew-3 SpaceX Crew-3 Expedition 66/67 11 November 2021 6 May 2022 Flight engineer on Expedition 66 and 67
Template:Flagicon Samantha Cristoforetti ESA Minerva SpaceX Crew-4 SpaceX Crew-4 Expedition 67/68 27 Apr 2022 14 Oct 2022 Flight engineer on Expedition 67, fifth European to command the ISS as commander of the first part of Expedition 68.
Template:Flagicon Andreas Mogensen ESA Huginn[36] SpaceX Crew-7 SpaceX Crew-7 Expeditions 69/70 26 August 2023 12 March 2024 First non-American astronaut to pilot a United States spacecraft. Sixth European to command the ISS as commander of the first part of Expedition 70.
Template:Flagicon Marcus Wandt ESA (Project) Muninn[37] Axiom Mission 3 Axiom Mission 3 Visiting 18 January 2024[38] 9 February 2024 First ESA Astronaut on a private mission to ISS, first from the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group to fly in space, First ESA project astronaut, fastest-trained astronaut in history after selection to fly into orbit.
Template:Flagicon Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski ESA (Project) Ignis[39] Axiom Mission 4[40] Axiom Mission 4 Visiting 25 June 2025 July 2025 Second ESA Astronaut on a private mission to ISS.

Future missions to the International Space Station

Future European astronauts to the ISS are:

Astronaut Agency Mission Launch Return Expedition Launch Date Return Date Note
Template:Flagicon Sophie Adenot ESA Epsilon SpaceX Crew-12 SpaceX Crew-12 Expeditions 74/75 Q2 2026
Template:Flagicon Aleš Svoboda (Project)[41][42] ESA Visiting NET 2027

See also

References

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  24. ↑ Positive signs for Europe as ESA goes forward to the Moon
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ https://polsa.gov.pl/wydarzenia/ignis/
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

External links

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Template:Use British English Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:ESA Astronaut Groups Template:European human spaceflight

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