Astronauts in Europe ask for their own independent crew spacecraft

Enlarge / European astronaut Matthias Maurer, in the white T-shirt, joins his Crew-3 mates in hugging a Falcon 9 rocket before their launch. (credit: SpaceX)

European astronauts have been flying into space since 1978, when a German named Sigmund Jahn climbed aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and traveled to the Salyut 6 space station for a week.

Over the next four decades, dozens of European astronauts would fly on vehicles operated by Russia and the United States to various space stations. Most recently, French and German astronauts have launched to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle.

These astronauts, Thomas Pesquet and Matthias Maurer, both praised the Crew Dragon vehicle's smooth spaceflight and the reusable nature of the rocket. They had no complaints. But as a new "manifesto" makes clear, European astronauts would like to have their own independent means of reaching the International Space Station.

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