• Samantha Cristoforetti is the new commander of the International Space Station.
• The 45-year-old holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a European woman.
• She replaces Russian astronaut Oleg Artemyev, who is retiring from the mission.

Samantha Cristoforetti became the first European woman to assume command of the International Space Station in a ceremony aired live from space on Wednesday.

The outgoing commander, Russian astronaut Oleg Artemyev, appeared to make a rare space-bound remark about the conflict in Ukraine by stating that “despite the storms on Earth, our international cooperation continues.”

Artemyev presented Cristoforetti with a golden key during a low-key ceremony, signifying that she is the new leader of the space station until her return to Earth on October 10.

In April, Cristoforetti, a 45-year-old European Space Agency astronaut and former Italian air force pilot, began her second mission on the International Space Station. After spending 199 days in orbit in 2014 and 2015, she holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman.

She is the fifth female commander and the first non-American female commander since the position was established in 2000.

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the space station, long a symbol of tighter post-Cold War ties between Russia and the United States, has been in a precarious situation.

The ISS has been one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the West. Moscow reacted angrily to the unprecedented sanctions imposed over the war.

Artemyev complimented the efforts of all ten crew members on the space station, which included four Americans, five Russians, and Cristoforetti.

He described the International Space Station (ISS) as “a continuation of the Apollo-Soyuz programme,” the first crewed international space mission conducted jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1975 during the height of the Cold War.

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