This month marks the 20^th anniversary of the first European mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

On 19 April 2001, Italian ESA Astronaut, Umberto Guidoni launched to the ISS on space shuttle Endeavour for a mission that included installing the Canadarm2 robotic arm and transferring scientific equipment and experiments.

Since then, there have been a further 26 European missions to the ISS and three ESA astronauts have served as commander. ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer will both launch to the ISS this year.

The ISS has hosted more than 3000 scientific experiments and is providing vital insights on the effects of long duration spaceflight for future human missions to the Moon and Mars.