A message for candidates

As you may have heard, the call for applications was hugely successful, attracting more than 23 000 candidates. This was far beyond ESA’s most optimistic forecasts and – while it is a very positive sign of the interest in space activities – processing this volume of applications requires a great deal of work. At ESA, we firmly believe that every application should receive the attention it deserves. With the considerable number of applicants, this simply takes more time than was initially foreseen.

Upon completion of the pre-screening stage, we concluded that some applications did not fulfil the requirements stated in the applicable documentation, and the concerned applicants were notified immediately. However, more than 80% of all remaining, eligible applications are still under review.
 
The next step for successful candidates is an invitation to a full day of testing at a facility in Europe. This step has already started and will last until at least the end of the year. Candidates are being invited progressively due to the work involved in this process and the need to consider COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Please note, if you have not yet been invited, this does not necessarily mean that your application is not being considered. We ask you for your patience as we process applications and issue these invitations.
 
We fully understand how important these applications are to candidates, and are working to let everyone who applied know the outcome of their application as soon as possible. Under the revised processing timeline, it is expected that you will be notified of the outcome of your application by the end of November 2021 at the latest.
 
Once again, we thank you wholeheartedly for your application and your patience as we select the next class of ESA astronauts.