Frank De Winne

Frank De Winne
Born (1961-04-25) 25 April 1961
Ghent, Belgium
StatusRetired
OccupationTest pilot
Space career
ESA astronaut
RankBrigadier General, Belgian Air Force
Time in space
198 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes
Selection1998 ESA Group
MissionsSoyuz TMA-1/TM-34
Soyuz TMA-15 (Expedition 20/21)
Mission insignia

Frank De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout). He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission when he served as commander of ISS Expedition 21. He serves currently as Head of the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency in Cologne/Germany (Köln).