How a French engineer became the first to command the International Space Station

Space · Published 7 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before he was a commander, Thomas Pesquet was an engineer studying spacecraft autonomy. His journey from a trainee at Thales Alenia Space to a celebrated astronaut involves 197 days in orbit and a saxophone performance that reached millions during the 2020 Olympics.

Thomas Pesquet's ascent in the space industry began with a rigorous academic foundation in spacecraft design and control. After graduating with a master's degree in 2001, he worked as a trainee engineer at Thales Alenia Space, developing satellite design tools, and later as a spacecraft dynamics engineer at GMV S.A. in Madrid. By 2002, he joined the French space agency, CNES, focusing on mission autonomy—a field closely related to modern artificial intelligence and machine learning, aimed at helping spacecraft make decisions with minimal human intervention.

His first foray into orbit occurred on 17 November 2016, when he launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-03. Acting as flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51, Pesquet journeyed with NASA's Peggy Whitson and Roscosmos commander Oleg Novitsky. This mission, named Proxima—following the tradition of naming French missions after stars—saw him spend 197 days in space conducting over 50 scientific experiments for ESA and CNES.

Pesquet has since become a prominent figure for the European Space Agency, achieving the distinction of being the first French astronaut to command the International Space Station. In addition to his technical roles, he connected with audiences via music, famously performing saxophone from orbit during the 2020 Olympics' closing ceremonies. His recent orbital activity included serving during Expeditions 65, 66, and 67, including a return to the station on 23 April 2021 and a subsequent return to Earth via the SpaceX Crew-2 Crew Dragon on 8 November 2021.

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