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Europe has rights to one berth on the international laboratory every year or so, and although the orbiting platform is due to be decommissioned in the early 2030s, a number of commercial vehicles are due to replace it – some with strong European backing.
But the US space agency (Nasa) is also committed to going back to the Moon this decade under its Artemis programme, and, with Esa being a key partner in this endeavour, it’s not inconceivable that one of the five graduating on Monday could become the first European citizen in history to step on to the lunar surface.
And if not the surface of the Moon, they have a good chance of going to lunar orbit. European industry is providing significant hardware for a lunar space station, which comes with the guarantee that Esa astronauts will get to fly in it.
Speaking to the BBC, Esa’s director general Josef Aschbacher said he was not yet in a position to discuss flight opportunities, but that he might possibly be able to make some sort of announcement in May.
Present at the ceremony in Cologne as an onlooker was John McFall, the Briton selected by Esa as a potential para-astronaut. The medical doctor, who has a prosthetic leg, is part of a separate feasibility study to see if space vehicles can accommodate his needs.
If it’s deemed they can, Mr McFall could also fly to the space station at some point.
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