French astronaut Thomas Pesquet told Euronews that Europe and France must "maximise the scientific return" from ESA's next private mission aboard PAM-6 to the International Space Station (ISS), which he will lead in summer 2027.
Speaking to Euronews at the International Space Summit held in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday, Pesquet said "we know the ISS is coming to an end soon and we don't know when Europe and specifically France's next turn, will come again, given that long-term missions to the ISS are assigned on a rotating basis."
The ISS is scheduled to retire and be deorbited in 2030 due to its ageing hardware and maintenance issues, as well as the space sector's shift towards commercial activities.
Russia and the US launched the first segments in late 1998, and astronauts moved in two years later. Europe and Japan added their own modules, and Canada provided robotic arms.
Pesquet is part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Astronaut Corps, which selects, trains, and provides crew members for US and Russian space missions.
