ESA astronaut and ESA’s International Space Station programme manager Frank de Winne interviewed in Florida, USA, in the run-up to the launch of ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on his Alpha mission.

Frank was the first European commander of the International Space Station and as ESA celebrates 20 years of Europeans visiting the orbital outpost it is fitting that Frank is in Florida to see Thomas off to space.

French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is returning to the International Space Station on his second spaceflight. Called ‘Alpha’ the mission will see a European astronaut launch on a US spacecraft for the first time in over a decade. Thomas is flying alongside NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide on the Crew Dragon.

Launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, Thomas will be the first ESA astronaut to fly on a vehicle other than the US Space Shuttle or Russian Soyuz.

Latest updates on the mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on the last steps before launch to be published on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission are available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure