[13] She studied in Bolzano and Trento and graduated from the Technical University of Munich with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

She graduated in Aeronautics Sciences (University 'Federico II', Naples)[14] at the Accademia Aeronautica in Pozzuoli, becoming one of the first women to be a lieutenant and fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force.

[16] On 3 July 2012, the European Space Agency announced that Cristoforetti was set for a long-duration mission to the ISS in 2014.

Previously, the NASA astronaut Sunita Williams held that record with 195 days after her Expedition 15 mission to the ISS.

[22] Other outreach activities included learning how the Spirulina algae can be a source of food, while creating photosynthesis in a recycled air environment.

[28] In April 2015, the Dragon capsule delivered the ISSpresso, the first zero-G espresso machine which Cristoforetti installed.

On 3 May 2015, she brewed the first cup of espresso in space[29] and posted a picture of herself on Twitter, wearing a Starfleet uniform while drinking the espresso, with the comment "'There's coffee in that nebula'... ehm, I mean... in that #Dragon" (referencing Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, and her love of coffee).

[30][28][31] On 28 February 2015, the day following the death of Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed Mr. Spock on Star Trek, she photographed herself in the Cupola, wearing a Starfleet pin on her shirt and giving the Vulcan salute.

[42] She demonstrated loading of tiny drops of biological samples into the device and collection of over 100 million raw data points over several minutes with laser-based sheath-flow analysis.

Cristoforetti was the first non-Russian to use the Orlan spacesuit since Michael Barratt in June 2009, and the first European astronaut to do so since Jean-Pierre Haigneré on 16 April 1999.

[43] She took command of ISS Expedition 68 on 28 September 2022[10] and returned to Earth aboard Crew Dragon Endurance on 14 October 2022, which completed the SpaceX Crew-4 mission.

[49] Cristoforetti appeared in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, which was held in Turin, in a pre-recorded message from the International Space Station.