Circle Image

Gerhard Thiele

German - (ESA)

Retired

Date of Birth: Sept. 2, 1953
Age: 72


Dr. Gerhard Paul Julius Thiele (born September 2, 1953) is a German physicist and a former ESA astronaut. In 1996, he was selected by the German Space Agency to receive Space Shuttle Mission Specialist training at NASA. In August 1998, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA), into which the German national team was integrated. In 2000, he completed his only spaceflight, the STS-99 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.


Director General: Josef Aschbacher

The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.


Long March 2D
Success
3 days, 12 hours ago
4 x SatNet test satellites
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Officially described as "Satellite-Internet Technology Demonstration Satellites". Probably 4 test satellites for the Chinese state-owned LEO commu…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 14 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-41
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Atlas V 551
Success
4 days, 6 hours ago
Amazon Leo (LA-07)
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, thi…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 17 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-53
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 7A
Success
1 week ago
TJSW-24
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.