# @europeanspaceagency on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DIttmLytE5B
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35582183-europeanspaceagency-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/effd528279.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-04-21T15:50:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** J.L.Lopez (@xandler80) — https://gondola.cc/xandler80

## Caption

One year ago… The Hoppers graduated! 👩‍🚀👨‍🚀👩‍🚀👨‍🚀👨‍🚀

On 22 April 2024, six extraordinary individuals earned their astronaut wings at our European Astronaut Centre in Germany, marking the start of their official journey into space.

Today, we’re celebrating how far they’ve come in just one year.

The class of 2022 – affectionately known as The Hoppers – includes our astronauts soph_astro, astro.pablo.esa, astro.rosemary, raphael_astro and esaastro_marco – now bouncing into the next phase of their journey: preparing for missions to the iss

Swipe through to see them in action during advanced training – from spacewalk simulations to Zero-G flight. Here’s a taste of what gearing up for space really looks like.

- Sophie and Raphaël have already been assigned missions to the International Space Station, scheduled for launch in 2026
- The others are deep in training, with our aim for all five to fly before 2030
- Katherine continues blazing a trail for Australia

Their class name, The Hoppers, reflects their ambition to leap into low gravity and beyond – and if this first year is anything to go by, they’re only just getting started.

Here’s to our brilliant Hoppers! One year on, and already reaching for the stars.

📸 Hop hop hooray: europeanspaceagency - P. Sebirot
📸 Astronaut portraits: ESA - A. Conigli
📸 NBL training with Sophie Adenot: ESA/NASA – B. Stafford
📸 NBL training with Pablo Álvarez Fernández: ESA - S. Corvaja
📸 NBL training with Rosemary Coogan: NASA - J. Blair
📸 NBL training with Raphaël Liégeois: ESA/NASA – B. Stafford
📸 NBL training with Marco Sieber: NASA - J. Blair
📹 NBL training: ESA/NASA
📹 Zero-G training: ESA

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 18,690
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- **Comments:** 127

## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ESA - European Space Agency | @europeanspaceagency | https://gondola.cc/europeanspaceagency | Government Organization |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Editor |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Copywriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Community Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Coordinator |

## Tags

europeanspaceagency, astronauts

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