Became a Kubestronaut

certification - This article is part of a series.

Part : This Article

Part : Państwowy egzamin B1

Part : Passed KCNA

I completed the Kubestronaut Program (KUBESTRONAUT) requirements after passing CKS I now hold all five required certifications for the Kubestronaut.

Kubestronaut Program Status — Kubestronaut 2026

Kubestronaut is a CNCF recognition program, not a separate test session.

The requirement is to hold these five active certifications( clickable with my notes about exams):

According to the official FAQ, Kubestronaut status remains valid until the end of the calendar year in which the first of the 5 certifications expires.

timeline
  title My path to Kubestronaut
  2025-09-11 : Passed KCNA
  2026-01-04 : Passed CKAD (recertified)
  2026-01-18 : Passed CKA (recertified)
  2026-02-04 : Passed KCSA
  2026-02-22 : Passed CKS

timeline
  title Next Steps
  2026-02-23 : Received mail "Welcome to the Kubestronaut Program"
  2026-02-23 : Fill out "Kubestronaut Directory Submission Form"
  2026-02-27 : Received Credly Badge

What you get and how it works
#

Based on the official FAQ and the onboarding email I received on 2026-02-23, the process is straightforward:

Submit the Kubestronaut form after you become eligible.
Accept the Kubestronaut Standards of Excellence in that form.
Get listed in the Kubestronaut directory and map after profile processing.
Receive the Credly badge after onboarding processing.
Receive the Kubestronaut jacket shipment after form completion and processing.
Get five CNCF certification discount codes.
Join the Kubestronaut Slack channels and mailing list for program updates.
Request KubeCon or KubeDay discount options directly from program contacts.

Christophe Sauthier contacted me on 2026-02-23 with onboarding instructions. I submitted the directory form on the evening of 2026-02-23.

From the onboarding timeline shared on Monday, 2026-02-23: if the form is submitted by Thursday, 2026-02-26, directory publication is expected by end of week, and Credly badge delivery is expected by Monday, 2026-03-02.

As of 2026-02-23, the Credly badge issue date is still pending. I will update this post with the exact badge issue date before final publication.

Verification commands (jq)
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I use these commands to verify public directory data in cncf/people:

curl -sS https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cncf/people/main/people.json \
  | jq 'length'

curl -sS https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cncf/people/main/people.json \
  | jq -r 'map(select((.name // "") | test("YOUR_NAME_REGEX"; "i"))) | length'

curl -sS https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cncf/people/main/people.json \
  | jq -r '.[] | select((.name // "") | test("YOUR_NAME_REGEX"; "i")) | {name, github, country}'

Why it matters
#

For me, Kubestronaut is useful because it validates both depth and consistency. It is not one lucky exam day. It is sustained practice across admin, app dev, and security tracks in Kubernetes. This is the part that translates to day to day platform engineering work.

As a Kubestronaut you are eligible eligible for five 50%-off exam coupons per year (CNCF certification exams).