He was born in Paternò (CT) on September 27th, 1976. He’s a test pilot for the Air Force and has a degree in Political Sciences from the Accademia Aeronautica. He was selected by the European Space Agency in 2009 and, in 2012, he was assigned to the ASI Volare mission, which launched towards the International Space Station on May 2013, 28th. During his mission, he was the first Italian in history to carry out extra-vehicular activities. On July 20th, 2019, he started a new, long-term European Space Agency mission, Beyond, whose destination was again the ISS.