The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching a new recruitment drive for astronauts.
This is the first search of its kind in over a decade, with the last call for ESA astronauts taking place in 2008.
As an ESA member state, Irish people would be eligible to apply.
The campaign will be officially launched next week, and will see a new website go live.
This will be the hub of information relating to the astronaut selection programme, which the ESA says will be "constantly updated with information for applicants".
However the window for applications is short - running from March 31st to May 28th.
The ESA says it will only consider applications submitted within those eight weeks.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano during EVA training at the ESA's Neutral Buoyancy Facility in Cologne, Germany in 2010. Picture by: ESA/H RuebA six-stage selection process will then begin, and is expected to be completed in October 2022.
Once selected, ESA astronauts typically complete a minimum of three to four years of training before flying to space for the first time.
Basic training takes 12 months which would see candidates introduced to the fundamentals of spaceflight, gain a detailed overview of all International Space Station systems, complete survival training and practice how to conduct a spacewalk.
After basic training, candidates graduate as ESA astronauts and become eligible for assignment to a mission.
At this point, they enter a period of pre-assignment training.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano waiting for a target on Earth to photograph in the Cupola observatory on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013. Picture by: ESA/NASAThe content and duration of this varies, depending on when an astronaut is assigned to a mission.
They can also undertake training at international partner sites in Houston, Moscow, Tokyo or Montreal.
Once an astronaut is assigned to a mission, mission-specific training begins such as learning how to run experiments scheduled during their mission, and training for any spacewalks or specialist activities.
But the standards are high.
Out of 8,413 people who qualified for the selection process back in May 2009, just six new astronauts were selected.
