Nicola Pecile

Nicola Pecile
Born (1973-03-11) March 11, 1973 (age 51)[1][2][3]
Udine, Italy[1]
StatusActive
Alma materAccademia Aeronautica
Space career
Commercial astronaut
SpaceShipTwo pilot
Current occupation
Pilot at Virgin Galactic
Missions
Mission insignia

Nicola Pecile (born March 11, 1973, Udine[1][2][3]) is an Italian commercial astronaut who works for Virgin Galactic.[1][2][3][4]

He graduated from the Accademia Aeronautica and served with the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) flying Panavia Tornado combat aircraft.[2][4] Selected to train as a test pilot, he qualified at the EPNER school in 2003.[2][4] As a test pilot, he tested new armament integrations for the Tornado and AMX International AMX[2][4] He completed a master's degree in Astronautical Engineering at the School of Aerospace Engineering of La Sapienza, Rome.[2][4]

In 2011, he retired from the air force and migrated to the United States.[4] There, he taught at the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, California.[2][3][4] In 2015, he joined Virgin Galactic to work on the SpaceShipTwo program.[1][2][4]

As of 2023, he had logged 8,000 flying hours on 170 different aircraft.[4]

  1. ^ a b c d e Di Meo 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cocetta 2021
  3. ^ a b c d Il friulano Nicola Pecile ai comandi della navetta di Virgin Galactic
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Mr. Nicola Pecile"