Europe is not lagging behind the US and China on space exploration and is taking a front seat on the Artemis II programme which is seeking to send a crewed mission to the moon. Luca Parmitano is in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA) and was the first Italian and third European to command the International Space Station (ISS) during an expedition in 2019/2020.

“I don't think we are lagging behind at all… we are on the front seat,” he said when asked whether Europe was trailing the US and China, citing his excitement at the prospect of the Artemis II mission. Artemis II is led by NASA and partnered by the ESA and will include the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft. The mission is scheduled to take place no earlier than April 2026.