Maurizio Cheli (born 4 May 1959, in Zocca) is an Italian air force officer, a European Space Agency astronaut and a veteran of one NASA Space Shuttle mission.

He was awarded the McKenna Trophy as the best student on his course, as well as the Sir Alan Cobham Award for the highest standard of flying and the Hawker Hunter Trophy for he best Preview Handling report.

He then trained with the United States Air Force and was selected as an astronaut candidate by the European Space Agency in 1992.

He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Italian Air Force.

During the 2009 Torino World Air Games, on 12 June 2009 the SkySpark experimental aircraft piloted by Cheli logged the speed world record for its class, powered by an electric engine designed by the DigiSky, an aviation technologies firm founded by Cheli himself in 2005.