The members of the reserve also learn more about launch operations and the international coordination required to bring a crewed spacecraft from integration to liftoff. This provides a clearer understanding of the full mission lifecycle and the teams involved in preparing their missions.

Throughout the training, the group explores how planets and stars form, how Earth’s surface and atmosphere evolve and phenomena such as meteorology, cloud physics, volcanism and plate tectonics. Practical work in Earth observation supports this learning, preparing the reserve to interpret environmental and atmospheric features from orbit and contribute to ESA’s Earth‑monitoring efforts.

The group also tackles robotics and virtual‑reality training, gaining an initial understanding of robotic operations on the International Space Station and developing the spatial awareness needed to manoeuvre equipment, such as the Space Station’s the Canadarm2 robotic arm, safely in orbit.

With this final block underway, ESA’s astronaut reserve is approaching the completion of a training programme designed to bring all members to a common level of readiness. Since late 2024, the reserves have progressed through a structured sequence of operational instruction, scientific training and hands‑on experience, building a versatile skill set that aligns with Europe’s long‑term human spaceflight ambitions.