Takuya Onishi was born in 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Tokyo in March 1998. Following his graduation, Onishi joined All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (ANA) in April 1998, where he served as a co-pilot on Boeing 767 aircraft, accumulating over 3,700 flight hours. In February 2009, he was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as an astronaut candidate and completed his basic training by July 2011, earning certification as an International Space Station (ISS) astronaut.

Onishi’s first spaceflight was as a flight engineer for ISS Expeditions 48 and 49 from July to October 2016, during which he spent approximately 115 days in space after launching aboard the Soyuz capsule, contributing to various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks. After this mission, he became a certified JAXA flight director in January 2020, leading operations for the Kibo module from JAXA’s Mission Control in Tsukuba, Japan. In November 2023, Onishi was assigned as a mission specialist for NASA’s upcoming SpaceX Crew-10 mission.