Why can Thomas Pesquet no longer go to space?

Nothing in Thomas Pesquet's public record points to any unfitness. He still belongs to ESA's astronaut corps, which remains active between assignments: ground support for crews, development of exploration programmes, representing the agency. He has two long-duration flights to his name, in 2016-2017 and then in 2021, which makes him, if anything, an experienced candidate. He has announced neither a withdrawal nor a career change, and no agency has communicated any restriction concerning him.

Europe does not launch its own crews. Its astronauts fly thanks to agreements with NASA and, in the past, with Roscosmos, in exchange for hardware and services. The number of seats allocated therefore remains small, just a few per cycle, and the astronaut corps has grown with the class recruited in the early 2020s, whose members are still awaiting a first flight. In this context, an astronaut who has already flown twice logically comes after the newcomers.

The International Space Station is due to end operations around 2030, then be deorbited in a controlled manner. Europe's next opportunities lie with lunar missions, with the station planned in orbit around the Moon and, perhaps, with commercial low-orbit stations. These flights are fewer in number and their crews are decided late. A third flight would remain consistent with agency practice, which readily entrusts demanding missions to seasoned crews: the real question is not whether Pesquet can still fly, but when a seat will open up.