Watch the replay of the media session held on 19 April 2021 with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet held in English and French to learn more about his upcoming Alpha mission.

Thomas 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 is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure