Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano will be the first European to take part in NASA's Artemis programme, US space agency NASA's chief Jared Isaacman announced on Tuesday.
Parmitano, 49, will be one of four astronauts on Artemis 3, Isaacman said. It is expected to launch in 2027.
However, the spacecraft is not expected to go to the Moon but only into the Earth's orbit for tests.
The crew is also to include US astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio and Randy Bresnik, with Bob Hines on standby as a backup in an emergency.
Unlike originally planned, no Moon landing is envisaged on Artemis 3. Instead, the docking of the Orion spacecraft with lunar landing systems is to be tested.
With the Artemis programme, NASA is aiming for a permanent presence on the Moon.
Parmitano: 'Honoured ... humbled ... grateful'
"I am honoured to be part of this crew, and humbled at the same time: my crew mates bring a wealth of different experiences, and I’m looking forward to working with them, eager to learn and to contribute as much as I can in my role," Parmitano said in a statement.
"“I am very grateful to the Italian Air Force for providing me with training in my early stages; to the Italian Space Agency - and Italy as a whole - for trusting me with their very first long duration flight when I was just a rookie; and to the European Space Agency for the training, endless support and amazing opportunities I have had since I became an ESA astronaut, and to NASA for its leadership in returning humanity to the Moon."
Parmitano reacted with visible emotion to his selection as the first European to fly on NASA's "Artemis" moon programme.
Addressing his wife, his daughters and other members of his family from Houston on Tuesday, Parmitano said: "You are the energy that feeds my soul, and your love is the spark that ignites every passion. Thank you, Grazie!" His voice briefly broke as he spoke.
Parmitano trained at the Italian Air Force Academy and worked as a test pilot. He was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009, has flown to the International Space Station (ISS) twice and has taken part in several docking manoeuvres there.
Europe's former space chief Jan Wörner congratulated Parmitano. "Luca is an absolute professional and also a very likeable person," he told dpa.
During Wörner's tenure as director general of ESA from 2015 to 2021, Parmitano flew to space for the second time in 2019. "It's great that a European can take part in the Artemis programme," Wörner said. "My expectation and hope is that a European will also be there when we land on the moon."
German had originally been in line for moon mission
ESA chief Josef Aschbacher had said at the end of 2025: "I have decided that the first Europeans to fly on a lunar mission will be ESA astronauts of German, French, and Italian nationality." Germany, he said, would go first.
The two German ESA astronauts, Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer, had repeatedly stressed that they would very much welcome the opportunity.
