European Astronaut Corps


The European Astronaut Corps is a unit of the European Space Agency 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. The European Astronaut Corps is based at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They can be assigned to various projects both in Europe or elsewhere in the world, at NASA Johnson Space Center or Star City.

History

Selection of new astronauts in 2009

According to French weekly Air & Cosmos, only six astronauts remain available for immediate flight. Vittori and Clervoy are on temporary leave or assigned to other duties. The head of human spaceflight at ESA recommended that at least four more astronauts should be added after the launch of Columbus in February 2008.
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. The selection program for 4 new astronauts was launched on 19 May 2008 with applications due by 16 June 2008 so that final selection would be due spring 2009. Almost 10.000 people registered as astronaut candidates as of 18 June 2008. 8413 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.

Future of the European Astronaut Corps

After the ISS

The funding by NASA and Russia of the International Space Station is currently planned to end in 2030. The role of European astronauts beyond this point is unclear. Some speculation suggests ESA's involvement with NASA's Orion programme may give European astronauts a seat aboard the Orion spacecraft, although this has not been announced.

Current members

There are thirteen active members of the European Astronaut Corps.
Name
Country
Selection
Time in space
Missions
Samantha Cristoforetti 2009 ESA Group199d 16h 43mSoyuz TMA-15M
Alexander Gerst 2009 ESA Group362d 1h 50mSoyuz TMA-13M, Soyuz MS-09
Andreas Mogensen 2009 ESA Group9d 20h 14mSoyuz TMA-18M/16M
Luca Parmitano 2009 ESA Group366d 23h 1mSoyuz TMA-09M, Soyuz MS-13
Timothy Peake 2009 ESA Group185d 22h 11mSoyuz TMA-19M
Thomas Pesquet 2009 ESA Group196d 17h 49mSoyuz MS-03, Crew-2
Roberto Vittori 1998 ESA Group35d 12h 26mSoyuz TM-34/33, Soyuz TMA-6/5, STS-134
Matthias Maurer 2015 ESA GroupN/AN/A

All of the current members of the corps have flown to space, except Maurer. All flown members have visited the ISS. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano is the member of the corps who has accumulated the most time in space with 366 days 23 hour and 1 minute. He is the record holder for all the European astronauts in history. The corps currently includes one woman, Samantha Cristoforetti, who formerly held the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Only two other women have been members of the corps. Marianne Merchez who never flew, and Claudie Haigneré who resigned after two missions to start a political career in France. The agency is expected to start recruiting another group of astronauts in early 2021.

Former members

there were 18 former members of the ESA astronaut corps.
Some ESA astronauts were selected by other European agencies and then enrolled into the European Astronaut Corps in 1998.
Name
Country
Selection
Time in space
Missions
Hans Schlegel Germany1987 DLR Group22d 18h 01mSTS-55, STS-122
André Kuipers The Netherlands1998 ESA Group203d 15h 50mSoyuz TMA-4/3, Soyuz TMA-03M
Christer Fuglesang Sweden1998 ESA Group26d 17h 37mSTS-116, STS-128
Léopold Eyharts France1990 CNES Group68d 21h 28mSoyuz TM-27/26, STS-122/123
Jean-François Clervoy France1998 ESA Group28d 03h 04mSTS-66, STS-84, STS-103
Maurizio Cheli Italy1992 ESA Group15d 17h 41mSTS-75
Pedro Duque Spain1992 ESA Group18d 18h 46mSTS-95, Soyuz TMA-3/2
Reinhold Ewald Germany1990 DLR Group19d 16h 34mSoyuz TM-25/24
Umberto Guidoni Italy1989 ASI Group27d 15h 10mSTS-75, STS-100
Claudie Haigneré née André-Deshays France1985 CNES Group25d 14h 22mSoyuz TM-24/23, Soyuz TM-33/32
Jean-Pierre Haigneré France1985 CNES Group209d 12h 24mSoyuz TM-17/16, Soyuz TM-29
Ulf Merbold Germany1978 ESA Group49d 21h 36mSTS-9, STS-42, Soyuz TM-20/19
Marianne Merchez Belgium1992 ESA GroupN/AN/A
Ernst Messerschmid Germany1982 DLR Group7d 00h 44mSTS-61-A
Paolo Nespoli Italy1998 ESA Group313d 02h 36mSTS-120, Soyuz TMA-20, Soyuz MS-05
Claude Nicollier Switzerland1978 ESA Group42d 12h 03mSTS-46, STS-61, STS-75, STS-103
Wubbo Ockels The Netherlands1978 ESA Group7d 00h 44mSTS-61-A
Philippe Perrin France1990 CNES Group13d 20h 35mSTS-111
Thomas Reiter Germany1992 ESA Group350d 05h 35mSoyuz TM-22, STS-121/116
Gerhard Thiele Germany1987 DLR Group11d 05h 38mSTS-99
Michel Tognini France1985 CNES Group18d 17h 45mSoyuz TM-15/14, STS-93
Frank de Winne Belgium1998 ESA Group198d 17h 34mSoyuz TMA-1/TM-34, Soyuz TMA-15

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

As Payload Specialists

Astronauts from Europe have flown to Mir both on board Soyuz vehicles or on board the Space Shuttle.
European astronauts to have visited the ISS are:
AstronautAgencyMissionLaunchReturnExpeditionLaunch DateReturn DateNote
Umberto GuidoniESASTS-100STS-100Expedition 219 Apr 20011 May 2001Flight 6A with MPLM Raffaello, visited Expedition 2 crew
Claudie HaigneréCNESAndromèdeSoyuz TM-33Soyuz TM-32Expedition 321 Oct 200131 Oct 2001Visited Expedition 3 crew
Roberto VittoriESAMarco PoloSoyuz TM-34Soyuz TM-33Expedition 425 Apr 20025 May 2002Visited Expedition 4 crew
Philippe PerrinCNESSTS-111STS-111Expedition 4/55 Jun 200219 Jun 2002ISS Assembly Flight UF-2, launched with Expedition 5 crew and landed with Expedition 6 crew
Frank De WinneESAOdisseaSoyuz TMA-1Soyuz TM-34Expedition 530 Oct 200210 Nov 2002Visited Expedition 5 crew
Pedro DuqueESACervantesSoyuz TMA-3Soyuz TMA-2Expedition 7/818 Oct 200328 Oct 2003Launched with Expedition 8 crew landed with Expedition 67 crew,
André KuipersESADELTASoyuz TMA-4Soyuz TMA-3Expedition 8/919 Apr 200430 Apr 2004Launnched with Expedition 8 crew, landed with Expedition 8 crew
Roberto VittoriESAEneideSoyuz TMA-6Soyuz TMA-5Expedition 10/1115 Apr 200524 Apr 2005Launched with Expedition 11 crew, landed with Expedition 10 crew
Thomas ReiterESAAstrolabSTS-121STS-116Expedition 13/144 Jul 200622 Dec 2006ISS Assembly Flight ULF 1.1, first European to live on the ISS as Flight Engineer on Expedition 13 and 14
Christer FuglesangESACelsiusSTS-116STS-116Expedition 1410 Dec 200622 Dec 2006ISS Assembly Flight 12A.1, visited Expedition 14 crew
Paolo NespoliESAEsperiaSTS-120STS-120Expedition 1623 Oct 20077 Nov 2007ISS Assembly Flight 10A, visited Expedition 16 crew
Hans SchlegelESAColumbusSTS-122STS-122Expedition 167 Feb 200820 Feb 2008ISS Assembly Flight 1E, visited Expedition 16 crew
Léopold EyhartsESAColumbusSTS-122STS-123Expedition 167 Feb 200827 Mar 2008ISS Assembly Flight 1E, second European to live on the ISS as Flight Engineer on Expedition 16
Frank De WinneESAOasISSSoyuz TMA-15Soyuz TMA-15Expedition 20/2127 May 20091 Dec 2009Flight Engineer on Expedition 20, first European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 21
Christer FuglesangESAAlISSéSTS-128STS-128Expedition 2029 Aug 200912 Sep 2009ISS Assembly Flight 17A, visited Expedition 20 crew
Paolo NespoliESAMagISStraSoyuz TMA-20Soyuz TMA-20Expedition 26/2715 Dec 201024 May 2011Flight Engineer on Expedition 26 and 27
Roberto VittoriESADAMASTS-134STS-134Expedition 27/2816 May 20111 Jun 2011Visited Expedition 27 and 28
André KuipersESAPromISSeSoyuz TMA-03MSoyuz TMA-03MExpedition 30/3121 Dec 20111 Jul 2012Flight Engineer on Expedition 30 and 31
Luca ParmitanoESAVolareSoyuz TMA-09MSoyuz TMA-09MExpedition 36/3728 May 201311 Nov 2013Flight Engineer on Expedition 36 and 37, first member of the 2009 ESA astronaut class to fly
Alexander GerstESABlue DotSoyuz TMA-13MSoyuz TMA-13MExpedition 40/4128 May 201410 Nov 2014Flight Engineer on Expedition 40 and 41
Samantha CristoforettiESAFuturaSoyuz TMA-15MSoyuz TMA-15MExpedition 42/4323 Nov 201411 Jun 2015Flight Engineer on Expedition 42 and 43, Longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut
Andreas MogensenESAIrISSSoyuz TMA-18MSoyuz TMA-16MExpedition 442 Sep 201512 Sep 2015Visited Expedition 44 crew, first Danish astronaut
Timothy PeakeESAPrincipiaSoyuz TMA-19MSoyuz TMA-19MExpedition 46/4715 Dec 201518 June 2016Flight Engineer on Expedition 46 and 47
Thomas PesquetESAProximaSoyuz MS-03Soyuz MS-03Expedition 50/5117 Nov 201616 May 2017Flight Engineer on Expedition 50 and 51
Paolo NespoliESAVitaSoyuz MS-05Soyuz MS-05Expedition 52/5328 July 201714 December 2017Flight Engineer on Expedition 52 and 53
Alexander GerstESAHorizonsSoyuz MS-09Soyuz MS-09Expedition 56/576 June 201820 December 2018Flight Engineer on Expedition 56, second European to command the ISS as commander of Expedition 57
Luca ParmitanoESABeyondSoyuz MS-13Soyuz MS-13Expedition 60/6120 July 20196 February 2020Flight Engineer on Expedition 60, commander of Expedition 61