The first European to fly to the Moon will be German

[Buster's Uncle]

The Telegraph
The first European to fly to the Moon will be German
Sarah Knapton
Thu, November 27, 2025 at 3:04 PM EST
3 min read



Matthias Maurer (right) is one of most likely candidates for the mission. Here he is pictured with a fellow German astronaut at a facility where they practise for missions to the Moon


The first European to fly to the Moon will be German, the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) has said.

Under the Artemis programme, humans are scheduled to return to the Moon in 2027, and although the first crew is expected to be North American, Europe has secured three spots for its own astronauts.

Josef Aschbacher, the director general of ESA, told the space agency’s ministerial council in Bremen, that the first lunar astronaut from Europe would be German.

“I have decided that the first Europeans to fly to the moon will be part of the Artemis programme,” he said. “We are looking for a German astronaut to join the crew.”

The most likely candidates for the mission are German astronauts Alexander Gerst, or Matthias Maurer, who have both flown to the International Space Station (ISS).

The first uncrewed Artemis mission took place in 2022, and next spring three Americans and one Canadian will orbit the Moon under the Artemis II mission.



Nasa’s Artemis I Moon rocket at Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 15 2022 - EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images


The following year, astronauts are expected to make the first Moon landing since 1972 and there will be several follow-up Artemis missions which will take astronauts to the lunar gateway, an orbiting lunar outpost that will act as a staging post to reach the surface.

Dorothee Bär, the federal minister of research, technology and space, said: “The director general has now decided that the first European is to be a German, and I’m very very happy, very proud about that.

“Whoever it is, it will be an amazing European astronaut.”

The Artemis mission is a joint effort between Nasa and ESA, and European astronauts are expected to join on flights IV and V.

The ministerial council meets every three to four years to agree on space programmes and funding for ESA. This year countries, including Britain, agreed on the largest pot in history, totalling €22.1bn – a 32 per cent increase.

The funding includes nearly €500m for the European Resilience from Space initiative, which is aiming to ramp up Europe’s space defences, and make more technology duel-use.



Artemis 1 lifts off on a mission to orbit the Moon on November 16 2022 - Getty Images


Dr Ashbacher has previously warned that Europe is lagging dangerously behind in space defence capabilities, while other countries are ramping up investment.

In September, Germany warned that Russian Luch-Olymp satellites were quietly stalking European spacecraft which provide critical data and communications on Earth.

Their motive is unclear, but experts believe they are probing the technology, looking for clues as to how signals might be jammed, intercepted or manipulated, particularly during war.

Ms Bär said that funding space defence technology was critical to avoid having to rely on billionaires such as Elon Musk during a conflict.

“Every crisis brings us a share of opportunities, and over the last few years, things have changed a lot,” she said.

“First of all, Russia’s broad aggression against Ukraine, we all saw very clearly what it means to be dependent on tech billionaires, and so sovereignty and resilience are decisive.

“Hence, this crisis has doubtless contributed to our awareness that the security of Europe is dependent on space.”

ESA said it now had a “clear mandate” for use of space applications for non-aggressive defence purposes, saying that it signified an historic change for ESA.

Several missions to protect Earth from asteroids and space weather were also funded.

The Ramses mission, to intercept the asteroid Apophis on its close encounter with Earth in 2029 was funded, as was the Vigil space weather mission.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/first-european-fly-moon-german-200451252.html