Swiss doctor among new European astronaut crew

Sieber beat off almost 23,000 other candidates to land the role. ESA - P. Sebirot

Marco Sieber has been chosen as a “career astronaut” by the European Space Agency (ESA) – he is thus set to become only the second Swiss spaceman in history.

The 33-year-old from Bern was selected from a total of 22,500 candidates who applied for a spot in the latest promotion. The other members of the elite crew, announcedExternal link by the ESA on Wednesday, are from Belgium, France, Spain, and the UK.

Sieber, who currently works as a urologist in the bilingual Swiss city of Biel/Bienne, is also a paratrooper in the Swiss army, as well as the holder of a private pilot’s licence.

He previously worked as chief medical officer for the Swiss forces in the KFOR international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. And in his free time, Sieber is a fan of adventure sports, including skydiving, paragliding, scuba diving, ski touring, and kitesurfing.

Meet ESA's class of 2022 astronauts #ESAastro2022External link pic.twitter.com/P77q35qXCZExternal link

— ESA (@esa) November 23, 2022External link

As a career astronaut, he will receive training for missions to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) and perhaps further afield, the ESA said. The education starts with a 12-month basic training course in the ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, in spring 2023. A first foray into space is not likely before 2026.

Before Sieber, the only Swiss astronaut was Claude Nicollier, who racked up over 1,000 hours in space, notably during four missions onboard a NASA shuttle.

Big-budget adventures

On Wednesday, the 22 member nations of the ESA also signed off on the organisation’s budget of €16.9 billion (CHF16.5 billion) for the next three years. The Swiss contribution came to CHF600 million.