Esa aims to launch the Frenchwoman Adenot and the Belgian Liégeois to the International Space Station in 2026.
The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to dispatch French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Belgian astronaut Raphaël Liégeois to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2026. These two are the first individuals from their 2020 astronaut group to participate in missions to the ISS, according to ESA's announcement at its space summit in Brussels.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher deemed it a pivotal moment for ESA. Sending these two astronauts aboard the ISS advances ESA's objectives by retaining European excellence and involvement in present and future human spaceflights.
At first, it was uncertain which specific missions Adenot and Liégeois were going to the ISS on. ESA reported that their fellow astronauts Pablo Álvarez Fernández from Spain, Rosemary Coogan from the UK, and Marco Sieber from Switzerland would also venture to the ISS by the end of the decade.
The most recent (2020) class of five professional astronauts underwent selection two years ago. It marked the first time in over a decade that ESA had recruited a new cadre of trainees. In April, these five completed their foundational training at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne.
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Source: www.ntv.de
