From 31 March, the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for new astronauts. These recruits will work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration.

The recruiting drive is ESA’s first to seek astronauts in 11 years, an ESA statement said. In particular, the agency is “strongly encouraging women to apply, because we are seeking to expand gender diversity in our ranks”, it said. 

Applications will be accepted from 31 March until 28 May, and ESA said it will only consider applications submitted to the ESA Career website within those eight weeks. “After that,” ESA said, “the six-stage selection process will start, which is expected to be completed in October 2022.”

Six press conferences tomorrow [16 February 2021] will mark the start of the communication campaign for the application phase. Each of the six events tomorrow will be held in a different language and will feature a variety of ESA astronauts and other experts. Tim Peake will be on hand at the English-language press conference.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.