ESA reserve astronaut candidates practised sea survival in Rostock, performing life-raft exits, swimming in survival suits and signalling techniques essential for a water landing. The eight trainees — five women and three men from seven countries — are part of ESA’s 2022 reserve cohort that trains in multi-week blocks while keeping their civilian jobs. Trainers stress teamwork and preparedness; participation in the course does not guarantee a spaceflight. The exercises complement other training such as parabolic flights and winter survival courses.
From Life Rafts to the ISS: ESA Reserve Astronauts Train Sea Survival in Rostock
ESA reserve astronaut candidates practised sea survival in Rostock, performing life-raft exits, swimming in survival suits and signalling techniques essential for a water landing. The eight trainees — five women and three men from seven countries — are part of ESA’s 2022 reserve cohort that trains in multi-week blocks while keeping their civilian jobs. Trainers stress teamwork and preparedness; participation in the course does not guarantee a spaceflight. The exercises complement other training such as parabolic flights and winter survival courses.
07:55 PM, 11/10/2025Science
"One, two, three," counts Sara García Alonso as she looks at fellow candidate Amelie Schönenwald. Together they drop backward from a life raft into the Baltic Sea basin off Germany’s Rostock coast.
With a sharp hiss their lifejackets inflate, keeping the Spanish and German trainees buoyant as they practice wearing full survival suits. What they rehearse in Rostock could prove critical if a space capsule strays off course and splashes down at sea instead of landing on solid ground.
Who is training
Alonso and Schönenwald are among five women and three men from seven European countries who form part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) astronaut reserve. They took part in focused sea survival exercises run by ISC Training & Assembly, a Rostock company that normally trains offshore workers.
The exercises
The course covers a range of practical skills: abseiling into a rescue boat, swimming while clad in survival suits, paddling and righting life rafts, and firing signal flares. Trainees practice coordinated exits from life rafts and learn how to support one another in cold, choppy water.
"In spaceflight you have to be prepared for all eventualities," Schönenwald says. She has already completed a winter survival course to prepare for icy, snowy landings. "And the other option besides ice, snow and cold is that you land on water." When asked which landing she would prefer, the 35-year-old replies: "Both — I hope to fly at least twice."
Training pathway and mission prospects
Under ESA’s 2022 selection round, the agency named five full-time astronauts and 12 reserve candidates. Reserve members keep their regular jobs but undergo basic astronaut training in several multi-week blocks. That structure keeps them available for shorter missions or for potential promotion to full-time astronaut roles if opportunities arise — but completion of training does not guarantee a flight.
As part of the current block, Schönenwald also experienced parabolic flights in France, which create short periods of weightlessness by alternating steep climbs and descents. "It was great and of course incredibly good fun," she says.
Teamwork and trainers
Heiko Seefeldt, managing director of ISC Training & Assembly, emphasizes that teamwork can make the difference between rescue and danger. "One person alone cannot hold out for long," he says. Two trainees the company coached two years ago have since been selected for space missions, and staff follow their careers closely, proud of the small role they played.
Context: Fifty years after ESA’s founding the agency has strong capabilities — including a spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and launch vehicles such as Vega C and Ariane 6 — but Europe currently depends on NASA for crewed launches. Competitors in the United States, China and a rapidly developing India continue to advance their own human spaceflight programmes.
Asked where she would most like to fly first, Schönenwald answers: "My great wish would be to go to the ISS. And perhaps one day to the Moon."