Astronaut for a Day inspired parabolic flights in several European countries

The Astronaut for a Day initiative, created in 2022 by the Portuguese Space Agency, has established itself as one of the leading space education initiatives at both the national and international levels. Today, its influence is evident in similar programmes in several European countries, including Luxembourg, Austria, Estonia, and, more recently, France.  

In Portugal, 121 students have already experienced weightlessness aboard a parabolic flight. Throughout the four editions, the competition has received more than 2,000 applications from all over the country, which reflects the growing interest of young people in space. In the last edition of the programme, held in 2025, nearly 600 basic and secondary school students from all districts and autonomous regions enrolled.  For the first time, female applicants outnumbered male applicants, with 279 girls and 266 boys applying.  

The format, created in Portugal and inspired by astronaut recruitment, aims to recreate the different stages of this selection process, combining online applications, reasoning and memory tests, followed by physical aptitude tests, and ending with interviews and medical examinations. In the end, 30 “astronauts for a day” are selected. The parabolic flight is carried out on board the Airbus A310, specially adapted for this purpose and operated by Novespace, the same aircraft that ESA uses to train European astronauts. 

“By organising competitions such as Astronaut for a Day, the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC), or even Cubesat Portugal, we make space real and tangible, because students don’t just hear about what it will be like to be up there, they experience it in a unique way. Furthermore, these competitions help us turn complex technical topics into human stories that people can relate to,” says Marta Gonçalves, educational programme manager at the Portuguese Space Agency. 

From Astronauta to astronaute and estronaut 

Other European space agencies have since adapted the Portuguese approach. In France, CNES launched the Astronaute d’un jour programme for students in the equivalent of 8th grade, with a pilot edition in early 2025 in the regions of Toulouse (where Novespace is headquartered), Montpellier, and Île-de-France, which received 760 applications and culminated in the selection of five students for a microgravity flight. However, the French version of the initiative has already expanded: next year, the competition will be extended nationwide. Applications, which closed a week ago, attracted 2,500 students from 260 educational establishments, reinforcing the international reach of this educational model focused on training “astronauts for a day”. 

The first country to adopt the model was Luxembourg, with a national edition in 2023. The following year, Estonia organised the Eesti otsib estronauti (Estonia Seeks Astronaut) competition, which took ten Estonian students on a parabolic flight in Bordeaux. In 2025, Luxembourg’s second edition became a joint initiative among Luxembourg, Estonia, and Austria, culminating in a zero-gravity flight featuring 38 finalists from the three countries. In the Czech Republic, Zero-G Mission, an activity of the national programme Czech Journey to Space, follows a similar approach, with a rigorous selection process culminating in a parabolic flight for secondary school students. 

As in Portugal, participants in these programmes take on an active role as ambassadors, promoting interest in space within their respective schools and communities. 

“The expansion to European level of a concept created in Portugal by the Portuguese Space Agency demonstrates the Agency’s ability to design programmes capable of mobilising students around science, technology, and space exploration, while at the same time strengthening Portugal’s role in space education in Europe, in this case through Astronaut for a Day, while ensuring the participation of young people from all regions of the country and from different areas of education,” says Hugo Costa, director of the Portuguese Space Agency.  

In line with ESA’s 2040 Strategy, which places the inspiration of new generations at the heart of the European space agenda, Astronaut for a Day uses space as a tool for education, inclusion, and scientific diplomacy, bringing not only young people closer to opportunities in the space sector, but also the communities to which they belong. 

Far from being aimed solely at science students, Astronaut for a Day has established itself as a genuine talent laboratory. Across four editions in Portugal, the group of finalists has included students from scientific and technological backgrounds, as well as from the humanities, arts, and vocational education. The combination of diverse academic profiles and interests, from programming and robotics to artistic creation, from sports to communication, proves that space can be a platform for the future for very different vocations and that the next generation linked to the European