A Payload Specialist (PS) is an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission. People assigned as Payload Specialists included individuals selected by the research community, a company or consortia flying a commercial payload aboard the spacecraft, and non-NASA astronauts designated by international partners.
The term refers to both the individual and to the position on the Shuttle crew.
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Payload Specialists were generally selected for a single specific mission and were chosen outside the standard NASA astronaut selection process. They were not required to be United States citizens, but had to be approved by NASA and undergo rigorous training. In contrast, a Space Shuttle Mission Specialist was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate first and then assigned to a mission.
Payload Specialists on early missions were technical experts to accompany specific payloads such as a commercial or scientific satellite. On Spacelab and other missions with science components, payload specialists were scientists with expertise in specific experiments. The term also applied to representatives from partner nations who were given the opportunity of a first flight on board of the Space Shuttle (such as Saudi Arabia and Mexico), and to Congressmen and the Teacher in Space program.
Other positions on board Space Shuttle were Mission Commander, Pilot, and Mission Specialist. Contrary to other Shuttle crew, international or scientific Payload Specialists were generally assigned a back-up who trained alongside the primary Payload Specialist and would replace him/her in the event of illness or other disability.
Payload Specialists were flown from 1983 (STS-9) to 2003 (STS-107). The last flown payload specialist was the first Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon on board STS-107, who was killed in the Columbia disaster with the rest of the crew.
Ulf Merbold, Byron K. Lichtenberg (first payload specialists, Ulf Merbold was the first international (German) payload specialist)
Marc Garneau, Paul D. Scully-Power (Garneau was the first Canadian in space, Scully-Power the first Australian)
Gary Payton (first military payload specialist)
Charles Walker, Jake Garn (first legislative branch payload specialist)
Lodewijk van den Berg, Taylor G. Wang
Patrick Baudry, Sultan Salman Al Saud (two international payload specialists)
Loren W. Acton, John-David F. Bartoe
Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid, Wubbo Ockels (three international payload specialists, most payload specialists on a single flight)
Rodolfo Neri Vela, Charles Walker (third and final flight of Charles Walker, Neri Vela was the first Mexican in space)
Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe (killed in the Challenger disaster)
Samuel T. Durrance, Ronald A. Parise (first post-Challenger payload specialists)
F. Drew Gaffney, Millie Hughes-Fulford
Roberta L. Bondar, Ulf Merbold
Byron K. Lichtenberg, Dirk D. Frimout (first Belgian in space)
Lawrence J. DeLucas, Eugene H. Trinh
Franco Malerba (first Italian in space)
Mamoru Mohri (first Japanese astronaut on board the Shuttle)
Samuel T. Durrance, Ronald A. Parise
Fred W. Leslie, Albert Sacco Jr.
Jean-Jacques Favier, Robert Brent Thirsk
Roger Crouch, Greg Linteris (Mission reflight)
Leonid Kadeniuk (Ukrainian payload specialist)
Jay C. Buckey, James A. Pawelczyk (Final Spacelab mission)
Chiaki Mukai, John H. Glenn (Last American payload specialist)
Ilan Ramon (first Israeli in space, last payload specialist, killed in the Columbia disaster)
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Wubbo Ockels, Michael Lampton
George W. Simon, Diane K. Prinz
Joseph M. Prahl, Albert Sacco
David H. Matthiesen, R. Glynn Holt
Paul Ronney
Paul Ronney
Alexander W. Dunlap, Chiaki Mukai
| Flights | Payload specialist |
| 3 | Charles Walker |
| 2 | Ulf Merbold, Byron K. Lichtenberg, Samuel T. Durrance, Ronald A. Parise, Chiaki Mukai, Roger Crouch, Greg Linteris |
| # of payload specialists flights | Country |
| 36 | United States |
| 6 | Germany |
| 5 | Canada |
| 3 | Japan |
| 2 | France |
| 2 | Italy |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia |
| 1 | The Netherlands |
| 1 | Mexico |
| 1 | Belgium |
| 1 | Ukraine |
| 1 | Israel |
| Total | 60 Payload Specialist flight opportunities |
All were international astronauts.