Samantha Cristoforetti

ESA Astronaut and ISS Commander

On April 29, 2026, the TUM Speakers Series welcomed Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA Astronaut and ISS Commander to the Rudolf-Diesel-Hörsaal at TUM’s Garching campus for an extraordinary talk and discussion.

As part of the double event with Sara Nuru on TUM Sustainability Day, we had the honour of welcoming Samantha Cristoforetti for a talk titled “Beyond The Horizon: Defining Europe’s Path in the Next Space Era”.

An ESA astronaut and TUM alumna (Diploma Mechanical Engineering, 2001), brought perspectives forged from both Garching lecture halls and the International Space Station. The first European woman to command the ISS, she received her Silver Diploma from TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann in the very building where her TUM journey began.

Her words stay with us:
"My time at TUM has been basically the launchpad for my career."

Thank you to everyone who joined us, our moderator Cara Speer, and the whole team of the TUM Speakers Series for making this extraordinary evening possible!