ARTEMIS TRACKERARTEMIS III // CREW PROFILE All crew
ESAThird spaceflightMISSION 03

ARTEMIS III // Pilot

Luca Parmitano

Italian Air Force test pilot, six-time spacewalker and former station commander taking the controls of Orion for Artemis III.
ESA selection
2009 astronaut class
Hometown
Catania, Italy
Military
Italian Air Force colonel
Artemis first
First ESA Artemis crew member
Luca Parmitano in the orange Orion Crew Survival System suit
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OFFICIAL ARTEMIS III PORTRAITNASA / BILL STAFFORD
FLIGHT RECORD
366Days in space
6Spacewalks
40+Aircraft types
CREW // A3

01 // Background

Built for complex missions.

Luca Parmitano entered the Italian Air Force Academy in 1995 and built his career as a fighter and test pilot. He graduated from experimental flight-test training in France and has logged more than 2,000 hours in over 40 aircraft types.

Selected by ESA in 2009, Parmitano first flew to the International Space Station on the Volare mission in 2013. He returned in 2019 for the Beyond mission, becoming the first Italian to command the station. Across both long-duration flights he accumulated 366 days in space and completed six spacewalks.

Between flights, he has worked at NASA Johnson as an ESA liaison and CAPCOM, supported astronaut robotics and spacewalk training, and rehearsed Orion recovery operations.

02 // Career track

Road to Artemis III.

  1. Volare · Expedition 36/37

    First spaceflight, science mission and two spacewalks aboard the station.

  2. Beyond · Expedition 60/61

    Second long-duration mission and first Italian command of the orbital laboratory.

  3. Artemis III pilot

    Assigned to pilot Orion during the 2027 rendezvous and docking demonstrations.

03 // Training

Education & preparation.

  • 01Italian Air Force Academy
  • 02B.A. Political Science · University of Naples Federico II
  • 03M.S. Experimental Flight Test Engineering · ISAE-SUPAERO
  • 04French Test Pilot School · EPNER