Aleš Svoboda — long bio (~360 words)

Aleš Svoboda is a fighter pilot in the Czech Air Force and a Czech astronaut in training with the European Space Agency (ESA). He has served in the Czech Armed Forces since 2005, when he enrolled at the University of Defence in Brno and went on to become a military pilot. In 2016 he completed conversion training on the JAS‑39 Gripen in Sweden. He has logged more than 1,600 hours in the Gripen and other types, served in the Baltic Air Policing operation under NATO command, and in 2023 was Mission Commander of the largest air defence exercise in NATO's history. He is actively involved in the strategic programme to introduce the F‑35 Lightning II.

In 2022 he was selected — from over 22,500 applicants, the largest astronaut selection in history — into the new ESA astronaut team. Since 2024 he has been training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne. He is preparing for a spaceflight with the ambition of becoming the first astronaut of the independent Czech Republic. Thirteen scientific and technological experiments from Czech institutions have been selected for the planned orbital mission.

Aleš holds two engineering degrees from the University of Defence in Brno and the University of Pardubice, and a PhD in aerospace engineering with a dissertation in the field of unsteady aerodynamics. He has completed courses including AIAA Human Spaceflight Operations, the Tactical Leadership Programme in Spain, the Electronic Warfare Course in Sweden, and the USAF Squadron Officer School in Alabama. In 2024 he received an award from the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
