Arnaud Prost (X2012) on a space mission in 2027

Arnaud Prost (X2012) is set to embark on his first space mission aboard Haven-1, the first commercial space station developed by the American startup Vast, for a test flight. Arnaud Prost will thus become the eleventh French citizen and the third École Polytechnique graduate to have flown in space.

Conférence d'Arnaud Prost (à droite) à l'X le 3 juillet 2024 (c) Corinne Hameau

01 Jun. 2026

Institution, Portraits

French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the Choose France summit—an event aimed at promoting foreign investment in France—an agreement with the American startup Vast to send two French astronauts into space.

Thomas Pesquet will thus embark on his third spaceflight, while Arnaud Prost (X2012) will set off for the first time to a private space station.

Arnaud Prost will thus be the eleventh Frenchman and the third École Polytechnique graduate to have flown in space. His two predecessors who graduated from École Polytechnique are Jean-François Clervoy (X78) and Philippe Perrin (X82).

Born on November 6, 1992, in Marseille, Arnaud Prost is also a graduate of the Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) and holds a master’s degree in “astrophysics, space sciences, and planetology” from the University of Toulouse, as well as a fighter pilot’s license.

In 2022, at the age of 30, he was appointed to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Astronaut Corps as a reserve astronaut.

At the same time, he has been working as a weapons engineer for the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) since 2020. Since 2023, he has returned to the Air and Space Force full-time as a pilot of the E-3F, the French AWACS, at Avord Air Base in the Cher department.

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