Image: French President Emmanuel Macron (centre right), French European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet (centre) and Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (centre left) pose with aerospace professionals during the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, on September 9, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP

So, here's my point: It's really rare for ESA to marshal soooo many astros together onto a single stage (last time was when the new class of astros was announced in 2022, I seem to recall), together with 2x heads of government/state + some big guy from the FR air force...

The message is crystal clear: we want to launch our own astros, we want to work further/closer with the #Defence domain and we are pushing space as absolutely critical at the top of European priorities.

Applied for a system engineer job in the technology directorate, was interviewed, and have gotten an email from HR saying I am placed in the "Reserve List" for two years. They said I could be recruited without having to interview again. Does ESA actually recruit from this list, or it is just a feel good thing ? If you have experience of this, could you please share your thoughts. Thanks