Thomas Pesquet began his career as a satellite dynamics engineer with Thales Alenia Space, at GMV in Spain, then worked at CNES before becoming an airline pilot with Air France in 2006.

He was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009, joining its astronaut corps after a rigorous training process.

In 2016 he became the tenth French astronaut in space for the Proxima mission, spending 197 days aboard the ISS, completing two extravehicular activities (EVA) and taking part in more than 50 scientific experiments.

In 2021, he launched aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft on his second mission, Alpha, and became the first French astronaut to command the ISS.

He holds the European record for time spent in space (396 days) and on EVAs (six sorties for a total time of 39 hours).

Alongside his astronaut duties with ESA, Thomas Pesquet is also a test pilot at Airbus, a pilot in the French Air and Space Force, and CEO of Novespace.