In 2009, Marco joined the paratrooper training with the Swiss Special Forces Commando at the Swiss Army, where he achieved the military rank of Sergeant. In 2015, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Bern, Switzerland. His doctoral thesis was on robotic surgery and he was awarded best final exam for his physician diploma. In 2021, he earned his specialist diploma in pre-clinical emergency and rescue medicine (SGNOR). Between 2009 and 2015, Marco was working as an assistant teacher for anatomy and physiology courses at the faculty of medicine at the University of Bern. At the same time, he was also a skydiving instructor for pre-military paratrooper courses. Between 2015 to 2017, he was a general surgery/traumatology, as well as an intensive care unit resident in Interlaken, Switzerland. After becoming chief medical officer with Swisscoy (Swiss Army) for KFOR (Kosovo) in 2018, Marco worked as an emergency medicine resident at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland, until 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, he was an anaesthesiology resident in Interlaken, Switzerland. Between 2020 and 2022, Marco worked as a helicopter rescue emergency medical doctor and joined the hospital in Biel, Switzerland as an urology resident one year later.
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.