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Paolo Nespoli

Italian - (ESA)

Retired

Date of Birth: April 6, 1957
Age: 67


Paolo Angelo Nespoli (Milan, 6 April 1957) is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December 2010 he again traveled into space aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft as an Expedition 26/27 flight engineer. Nespoli's third spaceflight was onboard Soyuz MS-05 which launched in July 2017 for Expedition 52/53. He is also the European Space Agency's oldest active astronaut.

Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-120

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 23, 2007, 3:38 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-120 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on 23 October 2007 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission is also referred to as ISS-10A by the ISS program. STS-120 delivered the Harmony module and reconfigured a portion of the station in preparation for future assembly missions. STS-120 was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, and was the twenty-third space shuttle mission to the ISS.

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-20

Progress Rocket Space Center | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Dec. 15, 2010, 7:09 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TMA-20 begins Expedition 26 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev alongside Flight Engineers, Catherine Coleman (NASA) & Paolo Nespoli (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on May 24, 2011, 02:27 UTC

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Soyuz-FG | Soyuz MS-05

Progress Rocket Space Center | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
July 28, 2017, 3:41 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz MS-05 begins expedition 52 by carrying NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky to the International Space Station. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, they will rendezvous to the station where they will remain for their 6 month stay.

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Director General: Josef Aschbacher

The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.


Zhuque-2E
Success
21 hours, 2 minutes ago
Guangchuan-01 & 02
Launch Area 96 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 satellites for testing and demonstrating LEO communication satellite constellation technologies. First flight of the enhanced Zhuque-2.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 12 hours ago
Starlink Group 12-1
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
2 days, 19 hours ago
Ice AIS Baby (Kinéis 11-15)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Third batch of five satellites for the French Kinéis IoT constellation designed to operate with 25 nanosatellites of 30 kg each.


Long March 2
Success
2 days, 23 hours ago
SuperView Neo 2-03 & 04
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Commercial Synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites built by CAST for China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd.


Electron
Success
3 days, 17 hours ago
Leidos-2
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Second sub-orbital launch of Electron of the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program for Leidos and Dynetics.