Watch live: first Space Station missions for new ESA astronauts

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher will announce the first two astronauts from the 2022 ESA astronaut class who will embark on long-duration missions to the International Space Station. This announcement will take place on the first day of the Space Council, held in Brussels on 22 and 23 May 2024. 

ESA's most recent class of astronauts selected in 2022 includes Sophie Adenot, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, and Marco Sieber. They recently completed one year of basic training and graduated as ESA astronauts on 22 April at ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Germany. ESA aims for all five new astronauts to fly on missions to the International Space Station by 2030.

Their journey commenced in April 2023 upon their arrival at the European Astronaut Centre. Over the past year, they underwent intensive training covering spacecraft systems, spacewalks, flight engineering, robotics, life support systems, survival techniques, and medical training. 

Once assigned, the astronauts advance to the phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training to deepen the knowledge they acquired during basic astronaut training. The future space flyers travel to partner sites to prepare for their missions, focusing on specific tasks and experiments to be conducted in space.

During their missions on the Space Station, ESA astronauts will carry out numerous scientific experiments, many originating from Europe. The European astronauts will also engage in medical research, contribute to Earth observation efforts, and participate in operational and maintenance tasks in orbit. They will also actively engage in outreach and educational activities, contributing to inspiring the future generation of space explorers.