The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This will be NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s first spaceflight. Mark has a background in physics and engineering at the US army before working at NASA as a Capcom at mission control in 2006. In 2009 he was selected as an astronaut – the same year as ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Mark finished his astronaut training in 2011.
Mark and Thomas are both aquanauts having spent eight days living in an underwater habitat as part of NASA’s underwater simulated space missions NEEMO.