ESA astronaut candidates Sophie Adenot, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois and Marco Sieber took up duty at the European Astronaut Centre one month ago to be trained to the highest level of standards as specified by the International Space Station partners.

This will be the first opportunity for media to meet the new astronaut candidates who have been selected from thousands of applicants in November 2022. During the news conference, they will share their first impressions and answer questions from the media.

The astronaut candidates started basic astronaut training at EAC on 3 April 2023 in preparation for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond. They will receive training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalking, flight engineering, robotics, life support systems. They will also undergo survival training and medical training before receiving ESA astronaut certification in spring next year. After receiving certification, they will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training.