Pedro Duque
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Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (born
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, 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 List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
and aeronautics engineer who served as minister of Science from 2018 to 2021 and member of the Congress of Deputies, representing
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
, from May 2019 until February 2020. Since December 2023, he is the chair of Hispasat.


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 were from
Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
. In 1986, Duque earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. In 1986, he worked for GMV and for the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
(ESA) for six years before being selected as a candidate to become an astronaut 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 launch system, 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. ...
mission
STS-95 STS-95 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 29 October 1998, using the orbiter Space Shuttle Discovery, ''Discovery''. It was the 25th flight of ''Discovery'' and the 92nd mission flown since the start of the ...
, during which Duque supervised ESA experimental modules. In October 2003, Duque visited the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
on board a Soyuz TMA Ship for several days during a crew changeover. The name designated by ESA/Spain for the scientific program of this visit was Misión Cervantes.


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 chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
) of Deimos Imaging, a private company, that in 2009 put in orbit the first Spanish earth observation satellite ( Deimos 1) for application in agriculture, forestry wildfire detection and control. In 2011, he was named
Executive President An executive president is the head of state who exercises authority over the governance of that state, and can be found in presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. They contrast with figurehead presidents, common in most parlia ...
of the Company.


Return to the ESA

In October 2011, Duque returned to his position at the European Space Agency, reprising his role 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 training. After that he assumed responsibility for the review of future ESA crewed flights, within the ESA's astronaut corps.


Minister

After the success of the June 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, Pedro Sánchez, leader of the new government, named Pedro Duque Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities. In April 2019, Duque announced that his ministry was going to increase
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
's contribution to the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
by
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701 million between 2020 and 2026 to ensure an appropriate contribution commensurate with the size of the Spanish economy. Along side the rest of the Sánchez cabinet, Duque ran for the April 2019 and November 2019 general elections, being elected MP for
Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
. In January 2020, Sánchez confirmed Duque as minister of Science and Innovation, with responsibility for university affairs being 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, c ...
, as the first minister of Universities. He resigned as an MP on 21 February 2020, shortly after being confirmed as minister of Science. In May 2022, he was appointed to the strategic committee of Destinus as an advisor. The company founded by serial entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich is developing a
hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...
liquid hydrogen aircraft. In December 2023, he was appointed as chair of Hispasat.


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 (2005) *
Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established by Decree of the President of Russia, presidential decree №1099 of September ...
of the Russian federation (2011) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the European University of Madrid (2013) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the
National University of Distance Education The National Distance Education University (, UNED) is a distance learning and research university founded in 1972 and is the only university run by the government of Spain. The headquarters is located in Madrid, with campuses in all Spanish aut ...
(2016) * Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Almería


See also

* Lists of astronauts * List of Hispanic astronauts


References


External links


ESA profile page





Events and Conferences

Telescope Hosting site in Nerpio, Spain

España: 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 Science ministers of Spain Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)