Greece to send first astronaut to ISS in 2027 via Vast mission

The European Space Agency signed an agreement with Vast on behalf of Greece to send flight surgeon Adrianos Golemis to the International Space Station in 2027. The mission, part of NASA's private astronaut initiative, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the news at the International Space Summit in Paris.

Bottom line — Golemis would become the first Greek astronaut, pending approval from the five ISS partner agencies.

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• Adrianos Golemis is an ESA flight physician who has studied the effects of long-duration space missions on the human body, per Ekathimerini.
• He will serve as mission specialist alongside French commander Thomas Pesquet and Czech pilot Aleš Svoboda, according to ESA.
• The four-person crew also includes an unnamed astronaut from another European country, Greek diplomatic sources told Greek City Times.
• Golemis will begin training in the US in September with Vast, SpaceX, and NASA, covering spacecraft operations and emergency procedures, ESA said.
• Greece now has 18 microsatellites in orbit and is developing a domestic satellite manufacturing industry, Mitsotakis noted at the summit.
• The mission will carry Greek scientific experiments in medicine, human physiology, agri-food, materials, and sensors, said Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou.

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