The following is a list of German astronauts who have traveled into space, sorted by date of first flight.
As of 2024, twelve Germans have been in space. The first German, and only East German, in space was Sigmund Jähn in 1978. Three astronauts – Ulf Merbold, Reinhard Furrer and Ernst Messerschmid – represented West Germany during the time of divided Germany.
Merbold made two other spaceflights after Germany was reunified in 1990. He is the only German to have been in space three times.
List
Image Name Mission Mission start Mission duration Space station Mission objectives Sigmund JähnSoyuz 31 / Soyuz 29 daysSalyut 6Scientific experiments in Salyut 6 Ulf MerboldSTS-9 daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab ModuleSTS-42 daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab ModuleSoyuz TM-20 / Soyuz TM-19 daysMir Reinhard FurrerSTS-61-A (D1) daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab Module, deployment of the Global Low Orbiting Message Relay Satellite (GLOMR) Ernst MesserschmidSTS-61-A (D1) daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab Module, deployment of GLOMR Klaus-Dietrich FladeSoyuz TM-14 / Soyuz TM-13 daysMir Hans SchlegelSTS-55 (D2) daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab ModuleSTS-122 daysISSInstallation of the Columbus Orbital Facility Ulrich WalterSTS-55 (D2) daysScientific experiments in the Spacelab Module Thomas ReiterSoyuz TM-22 / Euromir 95 daysMirSTS-121 / Expedition 13 / Expedition 14 / STS-116 daysISS Reinhold EwaldSoyuz TM-25 / Soyuz TM-24 daysMir Gerhard ThieleSTS-99 days Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, positioning of several satellites Alexander GerstSoyuz TMA-13M / Expedition 40 / Expedition 41 daysISSSoyuz MS-09 / Expedition 56 / Expedition 57 daysISSMatthias MaurerSpaceX Crew-3 / Expedition 66 / Expedition 67 daysISSRabea RoggeFram2 daysSpace Tourist. First German women and first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit, i.e., to fly over Earth's poles.
Amelie Schoenenwald and Nicola Winter were selected in the reserve corps of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group. They are the first women to be selected as astronauts representing Germany, though Rogge became the first German women in space.
See also German space programme Die Astronautin
References
External links German Astronauts at DLR Colleen Anderson: German Space Exploration and International Cooperation, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, 17 October 2016.