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André Kuipers

Dutch - (ESA)

Retired

Date of Birth: Oct. 5, 1958
Age: 66


André Kuipers is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He became the second Dutch citizen, third Dutch-born and fifth Dutch-speaking astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on 19 April 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-3 11 days later. Kuipers is the first Dutch astronaut to return to space. On 5 August 2009, Dutch minister of economic affairs Maria van der Hoeven, announced Kuipers was selected as an astronaut for International Space Station (ISS) Expeditions 30 and 31. He was launched to space on 21 December 2011 and returned to Earth on 1 July 2012.

Soyuz-FG | Soyuz TMA-3

Progress Rocket Space Center | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 18, 2003, 5:38 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TMA-3 begins Expedition 8 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri alongside Flight Engineers, Michael Foale (NASA) & Pedro Duque (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on April 30, 2004, 00:11:15 UTC

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz-FG | Soyuz TMA-4

Progress Rocket Space Center | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
April 19, 2004, 3:19 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TMA-4 begins Expedition 9 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka alongside Flight Engineers, Michael Fincke (NASA) & André Kuipers (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on October 24, 2004, 00:35:00 UTC

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-03M

Progress Rocket Space Center | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Dec. 21, 2011, 1:16 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TMA-03M begins expedition 30 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko alongside Flight Engineers, André Kuipers (ESA) & Donald Pettit (NASA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on 1 July 2012, 08:14 UTC

Low Earth Orbit
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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.


Electron
Success
21 hours, 1 minute ago
StriX Launch 6
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
23 hours, 44 minutes ago
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…


Long March 3
Success
1 day, 20 hours ago
TJSW-12
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

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


Ceres-1S
Success
3 days, 1 hour ago
Tianqi 33-36
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch

4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.


KAIROS
Failure
4 days, 9 hours ago
Flight 2
Space One Launch Pad - Spaceport Kii, Japan

Second flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle. 5 satellites for testing various technologies will be on board: * TATARA-1 * PARUS-T1A * SC-Sat1…