Thomas Pesquet, Special Envoy of the President of the Republic Astronaut Thomas Pesquet is the Special Envoy of the President of the Republic for the International Space Summit on 9 and 10 September 2026. Space Published on : June 19th 2026 Updated on : July 07th 2026 ©Josh Valcarel – NASA – Johnson Space Center Dans cette rubrique Priorities and action The Ministry in action Action for peace and respect for human rights Promoting a sovereign Europe Promoting French businesses and France’s attractiveness Ensuring the presence of French culture Contributing to sustainable, balanced globalization Major issues International Space Summit France's 2026 G7 Presidency France’s diplomatic action in Ukraine French humanitarian action in the Palestinian Territories Thomas Pesquet began his career as a satellite dynamics engineer at Thales Alenia Space, then GMV in Spain, followed by the French space agency, CNES, before becoming an airline pilot with Air France in 2006. In 2009, he was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to join its astronaut corps following an intensive training programme. In 2016, he became the 10th French astronaut in space when he embarked on the Proxima mission, during which he spent 197 days on board the International Space Station (ISS), performed two extravehicular activities and took part in over 50 scientific experiments. In 2021, he returned to space on a second mission, Alpha, on board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, and became the first French commander of the ISS. He holds the European record for time spent in space (396 days) as well as for extravehicular activities (six, for a total of 39 hours). In addition to his work as an astronaut at the ESA, Thomas Pesquet is currently a test pilot at Airbus, a pilot with the French Air and Space Force and CEO of Novespace. Within the framework of the agreement concluded between the American company Vast and the French Government, announced by President Macron on 1 June 2026, Thomas Pesquet has been selected to fly on board the commercial mission PAM-6, a short-duration mission to the International Space Station and the sixth private space mission to the ISS. It will be launched in the summer of 2027 at the earliest. Subject to the review and approval of the International Space Station’s Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP), Thomas Pesquet will serve as commander of this mission, in partnership with NASA. The MCOP adopts decisions by consensus among the representatives of the five partners of the International Space Station: NASA, the ESA, Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). If this decision is taken, it will be a major first: a non-American astronaut has never been the commander of an American spacecraft.