In September, the European Space Agency (ESA) and The Pokémon Company shared some unusual news. Earlier this year, a Pikachu toy spent 67 days on the International Space Station, a large science lab that circles Earth about 400 kilometres (250 miles) above our heads.
Pikachu is the best-known character from Pokémon, a Japanese video game series that started in 1996. The toy that went to space is a soft plush Pikachu, but for the trip, the little yellow traveller got its own white spacesuit with a mission patch.
Pikachu left Earth on April 11 on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft, a robotic ship that carries food, tools, and other supplies to the space station. Two months later, on June 17, the toy came home in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. In those 67 days, Pikachu went around the planet 1,040 times. French astronaut Sophie Adenot was living on the station during the visit. She is only the second French woman to travel to space.
The trip was part of a bigger ESA and Pokémon project to celebrate World Space Week, which runs from October 4 to 10. The United Nations picked these dates in 1999 because of two important moments in space history. The first satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched on October 4, 1957. Ten years later, on October 10, 1967, the first big international agreement about space came into effect.
For World Space Week, the two partners have also made a family exhibition about Europe’s work in space. In the exhibition, Pokémon characters help explain how rockets are launched, how scientists study the Sun, and how Europe supports the space station. From October 2026 until April 2027, the exhibition will travel to seven science museums in Europe, including the Science Museum in London and the Cité de l’espace, a large space science centre in Toulouse, France. Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, said the project is “unlocking new ways for people across Europe to connect with space.”
Fans of Pokémon GO, the popular mobile game, can join in too. From October 4, 2026, to April 30, 2027, players can find “Astronaut Pikachu” in the game. Some special Pokémon will appear only at the museums that host the exhibition.
Sources: European Space Agency, Space.com, collectSPACE, CNES, United Nations
Of all the passengers to visit the International Space Station this year, few would be as instantly recognizable as a small yellow one in a white spacesuit. In September, the European Space Agency (ESA) and The Pokémon Company revealed that a plush Pikachu had spent 67 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, which circles Earth roughly 400 kilometres (250 miles) up.
For the uninitiated, Pikachu is the electric “Mouse Pokémon” that has served as the face of the Japanese video game franchise since the series began in 1996. For this particular outing, the toy was kitted out with a custom white spacesuit, complete with its own mission patch.
Pikachu hitched a ride on April 11 aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus, an uncrewed cargo ship that ferries supplies to the station, and returned to Earth on June 17 in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, clocking up 1,040 orbits along the way. The toy’s stay overlapped with that of Sophie Adenot, an ESA astronaut who is only the second Frenchwoman to fly in space, 30 years after Claudie Haigneré became the first.
The announcement was tied to a wider partnership built around World Space Week. Established by the United Nations in 1999, the week runs from October 4 to 10 each year. The dates mark two milestones: the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957, and the entry into force of the Outer Space Treaty, the cornerstone of international space law, on October 10, 1967.
The centrepiece of the partnership is a family-friendly exhibition in which Pokémon characters guide visitors through Europe’s space activities, from rocket launches and solar research to the continent’s role in keeping the space station running. The exhibition was first shown at ESA’s Open Days, a series of public events at six agency sites running from September 19 to October 10. From October until April 2027, it will tour seven venues, among them London’s Science Museum, the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg, and the Cité de l’espace in Toulouse. ESA’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, described the project as “unlocking new ways for people across Europe to connect with space.”
Mobile gamers have not been left out. From October 4, 2026, to April 30, 2027, Pokémon GO players can track down Astronaut Pikachu through in-game raids and research tasks, with some special encounters reserved for those who make the trip to one of the participating museums.
Sources: European Space Agency, Space.com, collectSPACE, CNES, United Nations
