ESA lead astronaut – Europe on front seat to the moon

Europe is not lagging behind the US and China on space exploration and is taking a front seat on the Artemis II programme which is seeking to send a crewed mission to the moon, a leading European astronaut has told Euronews.

Luca Parmitano is in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA) and was the first Italian and third European to command the International Space Station (ISS) during an expedition in 2019/2020.

“I don't think we are lagging behind at all… we are on the front seat,” he said when asked whether Europe was trailing the US and China, citing his excitement at the prospect of the Artemis II mission.

Artemis II is led by NASA and partnered by the ESA and will include the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft. The mission is scheduled to take place no earlier than April 2026. Four astronauts are intended to carry out a flyby of the Moon and return to Earth, becoming the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

“We [in Europe] have some incredibly innovative projects where we are really advanced,” Parmitano said, adding: “Let's not forget that the Lunar Gateway, the space station that we're building around the moon is built almost entirely here in Europe. So I would say that we have some unique expertise.”

Artemis II “will be the opening statement that will allow European astronauts to start thinking about flying towards the moon: first to the Gateway, and then one day also in the long term on the surface of the moon”, he said.

“Personally, as a 2009 class astronaut, [with] only two flights behind my back on the International Space Station. I'm really looking forward to a potential flight to the Gateway,” said Parmitano, who is also a Colonel and test pilot for the Italian Air Force.

“So Europe provides the only engine to Orion, the European Service module. So we are right there. We will have astronauts going to the Lunar Gateway and to the surface in the near future,” he said.

Parmitano said “it's really too early to talk about human exploration on the surface of Mars because we are just not ready yet”, adding: “We have to dream big and be realistic.”

During his six-month stint on the ISS, Parmitano shared his experiences on board with Euronews through his Space Chronicles. 

He also became the first astronaut to perform a deejay set in space. “Every now and then it's also nice to get yourself out of the comfort zone and do something completely different [when on the space station],” he said at the time, “It was really crazy.”