“I’m opening a new chapter”: Thomas Pesquet makes an important decision for his career

EEnlisted as an Air Force citizen reservist since 2017, Thomas Pesquet signed an operational reservist contract in August, written The Voice of the North. More precisely, he became operational reserve colonel within the 31^e replenishment and strategic transport wing (EARTS) and “ pilots one of the AAE’s flagship aircraft,” indicates the army on its website: the A330 Phénix MRTT, based on the BA 125 of Istres.

Thomas Pesquet, who specifies that he is still an ESA astronaut, notably “with a view to lunar missions”, posted a long text on Linkedin to explain this choice: “I am opening a new chapter with the start of my activities in the reserve operational force of the Air and Space Force,” he writes.

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https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thomas-pesquet_ba125-ba701-fas-activity-7250153420693602304-MzeG

In Istres and Toulouse

This “mid-career decision” may be surprising, but it is coherent since Thomas Pesquet is a pilot by training and has always had “affinities with the institution, friendship and respect for its members”, and even, he said, he could have “pursued a career as a military pilot”

He hopes to “bring all [son] experience on Airbus planes, but also take part in the space operations of the Space Command in Toulouse”. He also shares a dozen photos of “this intense first week” physically, with “a bag heavier than a space suit!” “.