European Space Agency welcomes 5 new astronauts to its fourth class after receiving over 20,000 applicants

The European Space Agency has formed its fourth class since 1978 with 5 Europeans who have completed basic astronaut training along with a graduate from the Australian Space Agency.

At a ceremony in Cologne, Germany, ESA added the five newcomers to its astronaut corps eligible for missions to the International Space Station, bringing the total to 11.

ESA has negotiated with NASA for three places on future Artemis moon missions, although those places will likely go to the more senior astronauts, according to ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. The agency is also supplying the service module for the Orion crew capsule. ESA relies on NASA and others to get its astronauts to space.