The European Space Agency launched a recruitment drive on March 31 to employ four to six career astronauts, who will be permanent ESA staff, and about 20 reserve astronauts for possible shorter, one-off missions to destinations like the International Space Station.

This is the first time the ESA has recruited astronauts in a decade. The process has been extended to June 18th, 2021 (so: there's still time, astronaut - Jeff Bezos has nothing on you).

Recruiting the Disabled

The agency is focusing heavily on diversity, including a goal to introduce its first astronaut with physical disabilities, which would be the first in human history, according to ESA Director General Jan Wörner. The agency will open that opportunity for one or more applicants.

“We believe that exploration is the matter of a collective effort, we need to extend the pool of talent we can rely on in order to continue progressing in our endeavor,” declared an ESA statement.

“Visible representation is always important and, therefore, we’ve been asking ourselves, what are the barriers preventing us from flying a physically disabled astronaut to the ISS,” Wörner told the media.

This a part of the “Para-astronaut feasibility project” the agency has started, through which the ESA plans to adapt space hardware to enable those “otherwise excellently qualified professionals” to serve as new crew members on a safe, useful space mission, the agency says in its statement.

The applicants should be qualified to be an astronaut psychologically, cognitively, technically and professionally.

The agency said that it has communicated with the International Paralympic Committee to determine what kinds of physical disabilities can satisfy the requirements of space missions.

According to the agency, it will accept applicants with leg amputations, and it hopes to expand the opportunities to other categories of physically challenged people. After the candidates with disabilities are recruited, the agency will determine what physical accommodations they may need in order to take part in space missions.

With 22 member states and 3 associate members, ESA is a truly transnational space agency. Nationals from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom plus Slovenia and Latvia may apply to the ESA Astronaut and Astronaut (with a physical disability) vacancy notices. As of 20 May 2021, nationals of Lithuania were also allowed to begin submitting applications.

Diversity as a Strength

"Diversity is not a burden for us. Diversity is an asset for us," said Wörner. "We would really, in particular, encourage women to apply because it's very interesting and supportive, if we have mixed teams with different people from different backgrounds, with different genders."

Wörner also welcomed applicants regardless of sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith, and age.

The last application round had a strong emphasis on recruiting pilots, which will not be the case this time around, explained Lucy van der Tas, Head of Talent Acquisition at ESA. ESA hopes that this will open the door to more women.

Since its founding in 1975, ESA has only had two female astronauts – Claudie Haignere and Samantha Cristoforetti.  Of the 560 people who've ever gone to space, only 65 have been women and 51 of them were American, according to the Associated Press.

ESA expects a “very high number” of applications to come in during the eight-week recruitment drive from March 31, van der Tas said.

Second, those whose applications are accepted will undergo a rigorous six-stage selection process that will take until October 2022.

“Candidates need to be mentally prepared for this process,” van der Tas said.

Competitive Process

ESA expects a “very high number” of applications to come in during the eight-week recruitment drive from March 31, van der Tas said.

Second, those whose applications are accepted will undergo a rigorous six-stage selection process that will take until October 2022.

“Candidates need to be mentally prepared for this process,” van der Tas said.

The vacancy notices were posted to the ESA careers website on 31 March 2021. Only applications made online through the ESA careers website and submitted before the vacancy closes on 18 June 2021 can be considered. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.