Excellence with passion
3 ISAE-SUPAERO alumni in the ESA astronaut class of 2022!
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On November 23, 2022, ESA unveiled the European Astronaut Class of 2022. 3 ISAE SUPAERO alumni are among those selected: Sophie Adenot as a career astronaut, and Anthea Comellini and Arnaud Prost as reserve astronauts. They join other ESA astronauts who have already passed through the Institute: Thomas Pesquet, Luca Parmitano and Samantha Cristoforetti.
Since 1970, ISAE-SUPAERO has been contributing to the progress of the space age through its training, research and innovation activities. The Institute’s ambition is to train engineers to the highest level, bringing their expertise, their professionalism, their spirit of innovation, their ability to work in international environments, but also their human qualities to join this human adventure.
Today, ISAE-SUPAERO is the only French organization to offer degree courses (engineers, masters, advanced master programs, doctorate) covering all 22 space themes identified by CNES. These courses meet the needs of both generalist and specialized profiles. They are modular, which makes it easy to build “à la carte” courses according to the chosen specializations.
Each year, ISAE-SUPAERO trains about 1000 international students in the space field, all courses and years combined, and about 200 of them graduate. Among the students who have passed through the school, three are the astronauts selected by ESA in the class of 2022: Sophie Adenot (career astronaut), Anthea Comellini and Arnaud Prost (reserve astronauts).
2004 and 2017 ISAE-SUPAERO’s graduates
▶️ Sophie Adenot graduated from ISAE-SUPAERO in 2004 with an engineering degree, where she specialized in spacecraft and aircraft flight dynamics ; a training completed by a Master of Science in Human Factors Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While working for the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) from 2019 to 2022, she became the first French woman experimental test pilot on helicopters in the DGA Flight Test expertise center.
▶️ Anthea Evelina Comellini obtained her engineering degree at the Institute in 2017, which she continued, still at ISAE-SUPAERO, with a thesis “Vision-based autonomous rendezvous with non-cooperative targets”, in cooperation with Thales Alenia Space.
Discover the portrait of Anthéa Comellini PhD student at ISAE-SUPAERO
Discover the portrait of Anthéa Comellini PhD student at ISAE-SUPAERO
17 April 2021
She was a PhD student in the Complex Systems Engineering Department (DISC)
The subject of his thesis is “vision-based navigation for autonomous rendez-vous with non-cooperative targets.” She is affiliated with the doctoral school of Aeronautics Astronautics (AA). This thesis is called a CIFRE* PhD and is done in collaboration with Thales Aliena Space
ISAE-SUPAERO welcomes its doctoral students in six ISAE-SUPAERO, ONERA teams and Clément Ader Institute, covering a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines related to aeronautics and space: aerodynamics and propulsion, structures and materials, embedded systems, networks and telecommunications, control and management of systems, human factors, electronics, and signal.
ISAE-SUPAERO offers a rich and diversified program of doctoral training, leading to the PhD, the highest degree awarded by the institute, and recognized internationally.
*Since 1981, The Ministry for Research has financed CIFRES with the double objective of placing doctoral students in the conditions for scientific employment and encouraging research partnerships between the academic and business spheres.
▶️ Arnaud Prost, graduated from École Polytechnique in 2015, chose ISAE-SUPAERO as his application school and graduated in 2017. Since 2020, he has been an armament engineer and pilot at the DGA.
Find their full backgrounds on the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ESA_presents_new_generation_of_ESA_astronauts
Inspiring careers
Their careers are great examples of success for our students, and for young people in general. Sophie Adenot is also the godmother, alongside Thomas Pesquet, of the OSE L’ISAE-SUPAERO diversity program. Created in 2006 and awarded the “Cordées de la Réussite” label in 2009, this program is supported by the GIFAS and the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation. 30 schools are partners, and each year, more than 900 middle and high school students are tutored by ISAE-SUPAERO students and alumni, as well as scientific, technical, cultural and sports workshops.
To find out more about the OSE L’ISAE-SUPAERO diversity program: https://www.isae-supaero.fr/fr/isae-supaero/nos-engagements/programme-ouverture-sociale/presentation/
