N° 58–2022: Media Invitation: Announcement of ESA Astronaut Class of 2022
8 November 2022
ESA’s new class of astronauts will be announced on Wednesday, 23 November 2022 at the Grand Palais Éphémère (GPE) in Paris. The new class will include career astronauts, reserve astronauts as well as astronauts with a physical disability for a feasibility project. The event will be livestreamed on ESA WebTV. Journalists are invited to attend the event and will be provided with photo and interview opportunities afterwards.
In 2021, ESA opened the vacancy notices for the roles of astronaut and astronaut with a physical disability. This was the first call for new astronaut applicants since 2008.
In response, ESA received more than 22 500 valid applications for the role of astronaut from across Member States and Associate Members. For the role of astronaut with a physical disability, 257 applications were received.
ESA aims to recruit four to six career astronauts who will join the ESA astronaut corps.
In addition to recruiting astronauts into the existing corps, ESA will for the first time also establish an astronaut reserve. This reserve will be composed of the candidates who were successful throughout the entire selection process and were not recruited. Astronauts in the reserve will remain employed by their current employers. ESA had also published a dedicated vacancy notice to select individuals with physical disabilities for the astronaut reserve.
More information:
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA/ESA_Astronaut_Selection
Programme
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Wednesday, 23 November 2022
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| Time* | Event | Location |
| 14:00 | Doors open | Media Centre, GPE |
| 14:20 – 15:00 | Announcement of Astronaut Class of 2022 Publication of press release |
Main Hall, GPE Live on ESA WebTV Esawebtv.esa.int |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Photo and interview opportunity for media on location with ESA Director General, Ministers and astronauts | Dedicated interview rooms, GPE Live on ESA WebTV Esawebtv.esa.int |
| 16:00-17:00 | Remote interview opportunities for media not physically present | Online |
Media accreditation
The announcement of the new astronaut class of 2022 will take place at the following location:
Grand Palais Éphémère
2 Pl. Joffre
75007 Paris, France
Media representatives wanting to attend on-site are requested to register via the registration form by 21 November 2022.
https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form/
Registrations are now closed.
Interview requests
Interview request with the astronauts, the ministers, the ESA Director General or other representatives on 23 November need to be scheduled in advance (both for media onsite as well as remotely). Due to the large amount of requests anticipated, opportunities will be limited.
Requests shall be submitted to media@esa.int.
Future interviews with the new astronauts can be requested as of 28 November and should be submitted from 24 November via:
https://paros.eac.esa.int/paros/
The new astronauts will be announced on 23 November as of 14.20 CET. It is not possible to receive information under embargo beforehand.
ESA Council at Ministerial Level CM22
At the ESA Council at Ministerial level, CM22, which will be held in Paris on Tuesday, 22 and Wednesday, 23 November, ESA’s Member States, Associated States and Cooperating States will be invited to together strengthen Europe’s space ambitions and ensure that space continues to serve European citizens.
Journalists are invited to take note that while the announcement of the new astronaut class of 2022 immediately follows the CM22 press conference on the same day, the two events are treated as two different media occasions, with separate media invitations and press releases.
For more information about media opportunities at the ESA Council at Ministerial level and accreditation, please click here.
Further information
Astronaut Selection Handbook
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/careers/ESA_Astrosel_Handbook.pdf
Astronaut Selection Media kit
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/careers/MediaKitAstronautSelection.pdf
Astronaut Selection Website
https://www.esa.int/YourWayToSpace
Social Media
Follow ESA on:
Twitter: @ESA, @esaspaceflight
Instagram: Europeanspaceagency
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency
YouTube: ESA
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA
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