N° 63–2022: ESA presents new generation of ESA astronauts

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher introduced the members of the 2022 ESA astronaut class, the first new recruits in 13 years, today at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris, France, shortly after the ESA Council at Ministerial level ended.

The ESA astronaut candidates are:

Name	Member State	(type: Career Astronaut, Member of the Astronaut Reserve, Participant of ESA’s feasibility study "Fly!")
Sophie Adenot	France	Career Astronaut
Pablo Álvarez Fernández	Spain	Career Astronaut
Meganne Christian	UK	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Anthea Comellini	Italy	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Rosemary Coogan	UK	Career Astronaut
Sara García Alonso	Spain	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Raphaël Liégeois	Belgium	Career Astronaut
John McFall	UK	Member of the Astronaut Reserve / Participant of ESA’s feasibility study "Fly!"
Andrea Patassa	Italy	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Carmen Possnig	Austria	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Arnaud Prost	France	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Amelie Schoenenwald	Germany	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Marco Sieber	Switzerland	Career Astronaut
Aleš Svoboda	Czech Republic	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Sławosz Uznański	Poland	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Marcus Wandt	Sweden	Member of the Astronaut Reserve
Nicola Winter	Germany	Member of the Astronaut Reserve

 “Today we welcome the 17 members of the new ESA astronaut class 2022. This ESA astronaut class is bringing ambition, talent and diversity in many different forms – to drive our endeavours, and our future.

“The continuous exploration in low Earth orbit on the International Space Station, going forward to the Moon – and beyond,” said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.

ESA’s director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, added “This is an extraordinary time for human spaceflight and for Europe. After the successful launch of Artemis I with ESA’s European Service Module powering Orion to the Moon, we are on the forefront of human space exploration. We are delighted to have this group of extremely talented people, to continue European science and operations on the International Space Station and beyond.”

ESA’s new astronaut candidates will take up duty at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They will be trained to the highest level of standards as specified by the International Space Station partners.

Frank De Winne, head of the European Astronaut Centre and ESA’s International Space Station programme Manager said: “We are excited to welcome the new ESA astronaut class of 2022 and I am looking forward to see all these ambitious young career astronaut candidates joining us for their first training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in spring 2023, going forward to explore and shape space exploration.”

After completion of the 12-month basic training, the new astronauts will be ready to enter the next Space Station training phase and, once assigned to a mission, their training will be tailored to specific mission tasks.

For the first time, ESA has established a reserve pool of astronauts. This reserve list is composed of astronaut candidates who were successful throughout the entire selection process but cannot be recruited at this point in time. Astronauts in the reserve remain with their current employers and will receive a consultancy contract and basic support. They will start basic training in case a flight opportunity has been identified.

ESA also selected one astronaut candidate with a physical disability. He will take part in ESA’s feasibility study "Fly!" to develop options for the inclusion of astronauts with physical disabilities in human spaceflight and possible future missions.

The ESA astronaut class 2022 includes five career astronauts, 12 reserve astronauts including one astronaut with a physical disability.

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About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int

For further information:

ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office – Ninja Menning
Email: media@esa.int
Tel: +31 71 565 6409