The European Space Agency started its manned flight programme with SPACELAB, and in 1978 that gave the opportunity of the first selection of ESA Astronauts. The three first Astronauts selected were the German Ulf Merbold, the Dutch Wubbo Ockels and the Swiss Claude Nicollier. Ulf was the first to fly in 1983 with STS-9 and Wubbo flew 2 years later. But Nicollier who had to wait 14 years to experience his first flight with STS-46 in 1992 is now the leader of the European Corps with 4 space flights.
1992 is also the date of the second ESA Astronaut selection in the frame of 2 major programmes of the European Space Agency: HERMES (today cancelled) and COLUMBUS. The larger number of Astronauts selected and the variety of European nations represented was significant of the increased public interest in Europe for manned-flight in this period. More than 22,000 European candidates expressed their interest in becoming Astronauts, including 5,500 applicable files. The process ended up with a final group of 6 people, including only one previously selected national Astronaut: Jean-Francois Clervoy, the first French member of the Corps. Also selected were the second German Astronaut, T. Reiter, M. Cheli from Italy who has already resigned, P. Duque from Spain, C. Fuglesang from Sweden and the first woman in EAC M. Merchez from Belgium who has since resigned and not flown.
The 25 March 1998, the ESA Council has decided the building up of the single European Astronaut Corps. The objective was to improve the management of the organisation in the frame of the International Space Station programme in which ESA had a major participation. France and Germany, who were the only European countries with a national Astronaut Corps, promoted the idea that the fusion was a good and necessary decision to optimize the Astronaut ressources. The details of the Council resolution included the decision for the constitution of a Corps of 16 Astronauts (four for Germany, France and Italy and four for all the other member states). It was also decided that the integration process would end up at the end of June 2000,with the dissolution of the national Astronaut Corps. This agreement does not exclude for the member States the possibility of using an Astronaut of the European Astronaut Corps for a space mission organized on a national level.
As a consequence a first group of 7 Astronauts joined the Corps in 1998: G. Thiele and H. Schlegel from Germany, U. Guidoni, P. Nespoli and R. Vittori from Italy, and L. Eyharts and J-P. Haignere from France. Haignere left the active position after his second flight on 1st November 1999 to become Head of the Astronaut Division.
The second group of 4 Astronauts joined in 1999 and included R. Ewald from Germany, A. Kuipers from the Nederlands and M. Tognini and C. Andre-Deshays from France. Claudie is currently the only female Astronaut of the Corps.
Finally, at the beginning of 2000 F. De Winne from Belgium was the last to join the EAC.
The process is still running and no further Astronaut selection is foreseen in the near future.
