Two French astronauts are to blast into space next year, one of whom will stay on board the world's first commercial space station, under a new deal sealed between France and the US company Vast.
"This confirms France's space ambitions," President Emmanuel Macron said on X late Monday after announcing the deal on the sidelines of a Paris conference.
Under the deal, Thomas Pesquet and Arnaud Prost will embark on separate missions that will last around two weeks each, the California-based Vast said in a statement.
Prost's first trip to space is planned to be to the Haven-1 commercial space station, which Vast has been developing.
After years of delays, the company insists the station is scheduled to finally be deployed next year.
