Nicola Pecile
Born	(1973-03-11) March 11, 1973 (age 51) [1] [2] [3] Udine, Italy [1]
Status	Active
Alma mater	Accademia Aeronautica
Space career
Commercial astronaut SpaceShipTwo pilot
Current occupation	Pilot at Virgin Galactic
Missions	Galactic 01 Galactic 03 Galactic 06 Galactic 07
Mission insignia

Nicola Pecile (born March 11, 1973, Udine ^{[1] [2] [3]}) is an Italian-born 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]

References

Sources

• Cocetta, Alberto (April 11, 2021). "In volo con Nicola "Stick" Pecile, nato per salire sempre più in alto". Megazine. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
• Di Meo, Roberto (September 23, 2021). "Nicola pecile, il pilota italiano che porta i turisti ai confini dello spazio". Stradenuove. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
• "Il friulano Nicola Pecile ai comandi della navetta di Virgin Galactic". Friulioggi. June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
• "Mr. Nicola Pecile". Aeronautica Militare. November 6, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2024.