Coming soon to a Space Station near you… ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and his first space mission ‘Cosmic Kiss’.

Created for his pre-launch news conference at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre, this trailer features highlights from Matthias’s training to date as he prepares to spend six months living and working on the International Space Station.

As a member of US Commercial Crew-3, Matthias will be launched alongside NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron on a SpaceX Crew Dragon from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, no earlier than 31 October 2021.

Once in space, he will support over 35 European and many more international experiments in microgravity. He will also support installation and commissioning of the European Robotic Arm, designed to provide greater access to the exterior of the Russian segment, and is the only astronaut currently certified for spacewalks in both the Russian Orlan and American EMU spacesuits.

Matthias is expected to spend six months in orbit, including a brief crossover with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet at the start of Matthias’s mission, before Thomas returns to Earth with his Crew-2 colleagues.

Music: Space Symphony, composed for the Cosmic Kiss mission by Bernd Breiter of BigCityBeats.