page_title: German astronaut team
hierarchical_section_title: German astronaut team
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of the German astronaut team at selection
context_page_description: The German astronaut team was established in 1987. Before the establishment of the team, then-West German astronauts were selected for single missions, or as part of the European Space Agency's manned spaceflight activities. East Germany had its first cosmonaut, Sigmund Jähn; Jähn was both West and East Germany's first citizen in space when he departed from Baikonur in the Soviet Union in August and returned to Earth in September 1978. West and East Germany reunified in 1990 and the astronaut team became representative of a single German nation.
  In 1998, the team became part of the European Astronaut Corps.
context_section_description: The German astronaut team was established in 1987.  Before the establishment of the team, then-West German astronauts were selected for single missions, or as part of the European Space Agency's manned spaceflight activities. East Germany had its first cosmonaut, Sigmund Jähn; Jähn was both West and East Germany's first citizen in space when he departed from Baikonur in the Soviet Union in August and returned to Earth in September 1978. West and East Germany reunified in 1990 and the astronaut team became representative of a single German nation. 
  In 1998, the team became part of the European Astronaut Corps.
caption: German astronaut team
exif: {}