Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, 14 March 1963) is a Spanish

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

and

aeronautics engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

who served as Minister of Science of the

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

from 2018 to 2021. He was also

Member of the Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

from May 2019 until February 2020.

Biography

Early life and education

He was born in Madrid in 1963. His father was an air traffic controller and his mother a school teacher, both from

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

. In 1986, Duque earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid The Technical University of Madrid or sometimes called Polytechnic University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM) is a public university, located in Madrid, Spain. It was founded in 1971 as the result of merging different Te ...

. In 1986, he worked for GMV and for the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

(ESA) for six years before being selected as an astronaut candidate in 1992.

Astronaut

Duque underwent training in both Russia and the United States. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...

mission STS-95, during which Duque supervised ESA experimental modules. In October 2003, Duque visited the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

on board of a Soyuz TMA Ship for several days during a crew changeover. The scientific program of this visit was called by ESA/Spai
Misión Cervantes
STS-95 crew

ISS-08 Pedro Duque works at the Microgravity Science Glovebox

University and Business

In 2003, he started working at UPM School of Aeronautical Engineers as head of operations of the Spanish USOC, also lecturing students on space science and operations. In 2006, Duque was named Managing Director (

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

) of

Deimos Imaging Deimos Imaging is a Spanish company which operates a complete Remote Sensing system. The system comprises the satellites Deimos-1 and Deimos-2, the ground stations at Boecillo near Valladolid and Puertollano near Ciudad Real, the reception h ...

, a private company, that in 2009 put in orbit the first Spanish earth observation satellite ( Deimos 1) with uses in agriculture, forestry wildfire detection and control. In 2011, he was named Executive President of the Company.

Return to the ESA

In October 2011, Duque returned to his position in the European Space Agency, retaking his position as an astronaut. Until 2015, he was the leader of the Flight Operations Office, with responsibility for ESA operations in the ISS. In 2016, Duque participated in

ESA CAVES CAVES, an acronym for Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills, is a European Space Agency astronaut training course in which international astronauts train in a space-analogue cave environment. Desi ...

training. After that he assumed the responsibility of the review of future ESA crewed flights, within the ESA's astronaut corps.

Minister

After the success of the

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against the government of

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party le ...

in June 2018,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Pedro Sanchez named Pedro Duque Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities. In April 2019, Duque announced that his ministry was going to increase

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

's contribution to the

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

701 million between 2020 and 2026 to ensure a proper contribution regarding the Spanish economy size. As the rest of the Sánchez cabinet, Duque ran for the April 2019 and November 2019 general elections, being elected MP for

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in ...

. In January 2020, Sánchez confirmed Duque as minister of Science and Innovation, but the university affairs were granted to

Manuel Castells Manuel Castells Oliván (; ; born 9 February 1942) is a Spanish sociologist. He is well known for his authorship of a trilogy of works, entitled The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. He is a scholar of the information society, co ...

, as the first minister of Universities. After being confirmed as minister of Science, he resigned as MP in 21 February 2020.

Honors and decorations

* Order Of Friendship of the Russian Federation (1995) * Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit (1999) * Prince of Asturias Award of International Cooperation (1999) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the

Technical University of Valencia The Technical University of Valencia ( ca-valencia, Universitat Politècnica de València, UPV; , es, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia) is a Spanish university located in Valencia, with a focus on science, technology, and arts. It was founded ...

(2005) * Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" of the Russian federation (2011) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the

European University of Madrid European University of Madrid (''Universidad Europea de Madrid'' in Spanish language, UEM) is a private university in Madrid, Spain. History Founded in 1995, the school was purchased in 1999 by Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. In 2004, Sylvan Le ...

(2013) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the National University of Distance Education (2016) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Almería

References

External links

ESA profile pageEvents and ConferencesTelescope Hosting site in Nerpio, SpainEspaña: quién es Pedro Duque, el primer astronauta español y nuevo ministro de Ciencia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duque, Pedro 1963 births Living people Spanish astronauts ESA astronauts Astronaut-politicians Aquanauts European Space Agency personnel Space Shuttle program astronauts Polytechnic University of Madrid alumni Government ministers of Spain Science ministers Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)