All Space, All the Time
Promise!!!!!
| 10/15/2019 | ExoMars parachute progress |
| Positive steps towards solving the problems discovered with the ExoMars mission parachutes have been taken in the last month to keep on track for the July-August 2020 launch window. | |
| 10/08/2019 | Exoplanet and cosmology discoveries awarded Nobel Prize in Physics |
| ESA congratulates 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics laureates Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, who have been awarded the prestigious prize for the first discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star, and James Peebles, honoured for the theoretical fra... | |
| 09/27/2019 | Ariane 6’s core engine completes qualification tests |
| Ariane 6, Europe's next-generation launch vehicle, has passed another key development milestone. Its Vulcain 2.1 liquid-fuelled engine has now completed its qualification testing, which means combined tests can now begin. | |
| 09/25/2019 | How ESA helps connect industry and spark 5G innovation |
| Connecting people and machines to everything, everywhere and at all times through 5G networks promises to transform society. People will be able to access information and services developed to meet their immediate needs but, for this to happen seamles... | |
| 09/24/2019 | A new satellite to understand how Earth is losing its cool |
| Following a rigorous selection process, ESA has selected a new satellite mission to fill in a critical missing piece of the climate jigsaw. By measuring radiation emitted by Earth into space, FORUM will provide new insight into the planet’s radiation... | |
| 09/09/2019 | A burst of asteroid activity in Europe |
| The next few days will see a rare convergence of asteroid-related activity in Europe, as planetary defence and other experts meet in three locations to coordinate humanity's efforts to defend ourselves from hazardous space rocks. | |
| 09/03/2019 | ESA spacecraft dodges large constellation |
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| 09/03/2019 | Space Station science return and spacecraft shuffle |
| ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s Beyond mission has kicked into high gear during the last two weeks. He has been keeping the International Space Station running smoothly as well as working remotely with European researchers – with even Luca’s mealtimes... | |
| 09/02/2019 | Europe and US teaming up for asteroid deflection |
| Asteroid researchers and spacecraft engineers from the US, Europe and around the world will gather in Rome next week to discuss the latest progress in their common goal: an ambitious double-spacecraft mission to deflect an asteroid in space, to prove... | |
| 08/27/2019 | ExoMars rover ready for environment testing |
| The Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover has completed its construction activities in the UK and will now depart to France for testing under the conditions of the Red Planet’s environment. | |
| 08/21/2019 | Seeking innovative ideas for exploring lunar caves |
| How would you design a system to detect, map and explore caves on the Moon? Our latest hunt for ideas is seeking novel initiatives that address this question. | |
| 08/20/2019 | Thomas Pesquet on a new underwater lunar adventure |
| Over the next two weeks ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Drew Feustel and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai will take part in a new NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission off the coast of California, USA, to assess co... | |
| 08/20/2019 | All instruments onboard Rosalind Franklin rover |
| The full suite of scientific instruments, including cameras that will give us our eyes on Mars, the drill that will retrieve pristine soil samples from below the surface, and the onboard laboratory that will seek out signs of life are all installed on... | |
| 08/19/2019 | A space cocktail of science, bubbles and sounds |
| The International Space Station was again the stage for novel European science and routine operations during the first half of August. Plenty of action in the form of bubbles and sounds added to the mix in the run-up to a spacewalk and the comings and... | |
| 08/15/2019 | To boldly go, again |
| The award-winning Space Rocks returns to the indigo at The O2 in London on 21 September for another celebration of space science and engineering, along with the art, music and science fiction inspired by it, presented by Twin V Ltd in association with... | |
| 08/14/2019 | The first DJ in space |
| ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano made space (and music) history on 13 August when he broadcast the first DJ music set from orbit, performing to an audience of over 3000 people as part of the BigCityBeats WORLD CLUB DOME Cruise Edition. | |
| 08/08/2019 | Dark meets light on Mars |
| ESA’s Mars Express has captured the cosmic contrast of Terra Cimmeria, a region in the southern highlands of Mars marked by impact craters, water-carved valleys, and sand and dust in numerous chocolate and caramel hues. | |
| 08/06/2019 | EDRS-C successfully launched |
| The second satellite to join the constellation that forms the European Data Relay System (EDRS) has been successfully launched. The satellite was launched on board an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 August at 21:30 CES... | |
| 08/05/2019 | Two weeks of science and Beyond |
| Over two weeks have flown by since ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was launched to the International Space Station for his second six-month stay in orbit. His arrival, alongside NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos Soyuz commander Alexander Skvorts... | |
| 08/05/2019 | CryoSat conquers ice on Arctic lakes |
| The rapidly changing climate in the Arctic is not only linked to melting glaciers and declining sea ice, but also to thinning ice on lakes. The presence of lake ice can be easily monitored by imaging sensors and standard satellite observations, but no... | |
| 08/02/2019 | Asteroid's surprise close approach illustrates need for more eyes on the sky |
| On 25 July, an asteroid the size of a football field flew by Earth, coming within 65 000 km of our planet’s surface during its closest approach – about one fifth of the distance to the Moon. | |
| 07/30/2019 | Washed up: Sargassum blankets beaches |
| Over the last month, massive quantities of the Sargassum seaweed have been washing up on the shores of Mexico, Florida in the US and some Caribbean islands, creating a serious environmental problem and causing havoc for the tourist industry. ESA has b... | |
| 07/30/2019 | EDRS-C mated with launcher |
| The second satellite to join the constellation that forms the European Data Relay System (EDRS) has been mated with its launch vehicle. | |
| 07/29/2019 | First rollout of Ariane 6 mobile gantry |
| At Europe’s Spaceport the Ariane 6 mobile gantry, a 90 metre-high metallic structure built to house Ariane 6 underwent a 97 m rollout test last week to mimic prelaunch. | |
| 07/29/2019 | Cheops passes final review before shipment to launch site |
| The Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops, has successfully passed the final analysis review for its launch on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. | |
| 07/26/2019 | Satellite-connected tags set to boost marine conservation |
| Four tiger sharks have been tagged with a new device that will help conservationists to conduct detailed analysis of their migrations over years. The device, developed in collaboration with ESA, is smaller and more durable than existing tags, as well... | |
| 07/25/2019 | Astronomers spy Europa blocking distant star – thanks to Gaia |
| On 31 March 2017, Jupiter’s moon Europa passed in front of a background star – a rare event that was captured for the first time by ground-based telescopes thanks to data provided by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. | |
| 07/18/2019 | Angelic halo orbit chosen for humankind’s first lunar outpost |
| Mission planners at NASA and ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) have spent months debating the pros and cons of different orbits, and have now decided on the path of the lunar Gateway. | |
| 07/18/2019 | Powering the future with lunar soil |
| Building a lunar base would be one of the next logical steps in our exploration of the Solar System, but the survival of a future crew depends on access to a reliable source of energy. An ESA Discovery & Preparation study explored how lunar regoli... | |
| 07/18/2019 | Building a toolkit for the Moon |
| As the world celebrates 50 years since the first lunar landing, the team at ESA’s astronaut centre is looking to the future of lunar exploration. This includes developing prototypes for rock and soil sampling equipment to be used on the Moon. | |
| 07/17/2019 | Third European service module for Orion to ferry astronauts on Moon landing |
| NASA and ESA have a long term plan for Europe to deliver the European Service Modules for Orion. With NASA’s announcement to bring humans back to the lunar surface before the end of 2024, it was also decided that the third ESA-provided European Servic... | |
| 07/16/2019 | ESA confirms asteroid will miss Earth in 2019 |
| Asteroid 2006 QV89, a small object 20 to 50 metres in diameter, was in the news lately because of a very small, 1-in-7000 chance of impact with Earth on 9 September 2019. | |
| 07/16/2019 | Gaia starts mapping our galaxy’s bar |
| The first direct measurement of the bar-shaped collection of stars at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy has been made by combining data from ESA’s Gaia mission with complementary observations from ground- and space-based telescopes. | |
| 07/16/2019 | ESA identifies demand for satellites around the Moon |
| Dozens of very different commercial and institutional missions to the Moon are planned for the coming decades. These encompass everything from NASA’s manned Lunar Gateway research station and cubesats from start-ups and universities to commercial lan... | |
| 07/16/2019 | To the Moon – down south |
| Half a century ago humans stepped on the Moon for the first time in a set of sorties that awed the world. Over the years since we have explored our Solar System with robotic scouts and established a permanent human presence in space with the Internati... | |
| 07/15/2019 | Gaia’s biggest operation since launch and commissioning |
| On Tuesday 16 July, teams at ESA’s mission control will perform an ‘orbit change manoeuvre’ on the Gaia space observatory – the biggest operation since the spacecraft was launched in 2013. | |
| 07/11/2019 | Vega Flight VV15 failure: Arianespace and ESA appoint an independent inquiry commission |
| Arianespace announced today, 11 July, 2019, the failure of Flight VV15 carrying the FalconEye1 satellite. This was the first Vega failure after 14 successful launches in a row since being introduced at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana in 2012. | |
| 07/10/2019 | October’s ESA Open Day looks to the Moon |
| Come to ESA’s technical heart this October to meet veteran Apollo astronauts and hear from engineers designing future European missions to the Moon. This year’s ESA Open Day at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, will take place on Sunday 6 October –... | |
| 07/09/2019 | Upside-down 3D-printed skin and bone, for humans to Mars |
| 3D printing human tissue could help keep astronauts healthy all the way to Mars. An ESA project has produced its first bioprinted skin and bone samples. | |
| 07/08/2019 | Preparing science Beyond Earth |
| The next astronauts to join the International Space Station are on their marks for their launch to Earth’s orbit on 20 July, a date that also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. | |
| 07/08/2019 | ESAIL undergoes its final preparations for launch |
| The ESAIL microsatellite developed under ESA’s programme for tracking ships at sea is going through its final tests ahead of launch. | |
| 07/04/2019 | Jumping space robot ‘flies’ like a spacecraft |
| Astronauts on the Moon found themselves hopping around, rather than simply walking. Switzerland’s SpaceBok planetary exploration robot has followed their example, launching all four legs off the ground during tests at ESA’s technical heart. | |
| 07/04/2019 | Dust storms swirl at the north pole of Mars |
| ESA’s Mars Express has been keeping an eye on local and regional dust storms brewing at the north pole of the Red Planet over the last month, watching as they disperse towards the equator. | |
| 07/01/2019 | Radiation sensitive |
| There is little known about the effects of space radiation on the human body. Astronauts cannot see or feel it, yet the high doses they are exposed to outside Earth’s cocoon pose health hazards for trips to the Moon and Mars. To help investigate and f... | |
| 06/27/2019 | First taste of space for Spacebus Neo satellite |
| The thermal vacuum test campaign of the first Spacebus Neo satellite was completed on 25 June. Less than 100 metres from the Mediterranean Sea, the Konnect satellite has spent the past six weeks being exposed to the cold emptiness of space. | |
| 06/27/2019 | A chaos found only on Mars |
| The cracked, uneven, jumbled landscape seen in this image from ESA’s Mars Express forms an intriguing type of terrain that cannot be found on Earth: chaotic terrain. | |
| 06/24/2019 | ESA marks Asteroid Day on 30 June |
| ESA will be participating in this year’s Asteroid Day, the UN-endorsed global awareness campaign day on the small rocky bodies scattered across space, taking place on Sunday, 30 June. | |
| 06/21/2019 | Ariane 5’s second launch of 2019 |
| An Ariane 5 has delivered the T-16 and Eutelsat-7C telecom satellites into their planned orbits. | |
| 06/20/2019 | Spaceship Concordia |
| Science for the benefit of space exploration does not only happen off planet. While some studies require the weightless isolation of the International Space Station, another location provides the right conditions for investigating the consequences of... | |
| 06/20/2019 | Connecting the dots: nitrogen dioxide over Siberian pipelines |
| New maps that use information from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite reveal emissions of nitrogen dioxide along a Siberian natural gas pipeline that connects the Urengoy gas field – the second-largest gas field in the world – with Europe. | |
| 06/19/2019 | ESA’s new mission to intercept a comet |
| ‘Comet Interceptor’ has been selected as ESA’s new fast-class mission in its Cosmic Vision Programme. Comprising three spacecraft, it will be the first to visit a truly pristine comet or other interstellar object that is only just starting its j... | |
| 06/19/2019 | As above, so below – lunar rescue device tested underwater |
| With its rocky, sandy terrain and buoyant salt water, the bottom of the ocean floor has more in common with the lunar surface than you might imagine. That is why this week two members of NASA mission NEEMO 23 are testing ESA’s latest prototype to resc... | |
| 06/18/2019 | Honour the past, prepare for the future |
| ESA will join the world in celebrating the anniversary of the first human Moon landing this summer as European Space Talks take on a lunar theme. Fifty years ago, people were inspired by space as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the... | |
| 06/17/2019 | Arianespace and ESA announce Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launch contract |
| The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, will ride into space on an Ariane launch vehicle, Arianespace and ESA confirmed today at the International Paris Air Show. | |
| 06/17/2019 | Melting a satellite, a piece at a time |
| Researchers took one of the densest parts of an Earth-orbiting satellite, placed it in a plasma wind tunnel then proceeded to melt it into vapour. Their goal was to better understand how satellites burn up during reentry, to minimise the risk of endan... | |
| 06/14/2019 | Space agencies come together |
| On 14 June, President Hiroshi Yamakawa of JAXA was welcomed at the 282nd meeting of the ESA Council – the Agency’s governing body – held at ESA’s Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. For decades, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aeros... | |
| 06/12/2019 | Mapping our global human footprint |
| The number of people flocking to cities in search of employment and better prospects is growing at an unprecedented rate. By 2050, the global population is estimated to reach nine billion, 70% of which will be living in urban areas. The World Settleme... | |
| 06/12/2019 | SMOS joins forces with top weather forecasting system |
| As of yesterday, 11 June 2019, measurements from ESA’s SMOS mission are being fully integrated into ECMWF’s forecasting system, allowing for a more accurate description of water content in soil. | |
| 06/11/2019 | Science from the Space Station |
| In the age of social media, no new experience goes undocumented. On Earth, we fill our camera rolls with weekends away, social events and time spent with family and friends. But just imagine how many photos you might take if you lived and worked in sp... | |
| 06/11/2019 | Hera asteroid mission’s brain to be radiation-hard and failure-proof |
| At the heart of ESA’s Hera mission to the double Didymos asteroids will be an onboard computer intended to be failure-proof. | |
| 06/10/2019 | How satellites can improve the health of city dwellers |
| Most people get a health boost from exercise. But for those with heart disease or a lung condition such as asthma, exercising during periods of high urban air pollution can exacerbate rather than improve their condition. | |
| 06/10/2019 | Taking electronic dance music out of this world |
| On Friday 7 June, ESA began a three-day starring role at the World Club Dome electronic dance music festival. Billed as the Space Edition, this event is the latest stage of an eighteen-month partnership with BigCityBeats, the company behind the show.... | |
| 06/07/2019 | ESA boost to new commercial space transportation services |
| Europe is part of a new era in space transportation with new commercial initiatives offering services to space, in space, and back from space springing up within the privately led and funded space sector. ESA welcomes this development towards fur... | |
| 06/07/2019 | Rockets, evaporating droplets and x-raying metals |
| Years of preparation, and the finale is over in six minutes. This month a sounding rocket will launch two ESA experiments to an altitude of 260 km to provide six minutes of weightlessness as they free-fall back to Earth. | |
| 06/07/2019 | Personalised app for safe sunbathing wins support |
| A mobile phone app that uses space tech to identify the healthiest way to sunbathe has won the industrial approval of BASF, a giant chemical company that makes the ingredients for sunscreen and many other products. | |
| 06/06/2019 | Ariane 6 development on track |
| Europe’s Ariane 6 launch vehicle is set to debut with a commercial mission in 2020 – industry is carrying out the final tests and starting production. The Ariane 6 launch zone at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is near completion. | |
| 06/05/2019 | Space Rider: Europe’s reusable space transport system |
| Initially proposed in 2016, ESA’s Space Rider reentry vehicle provides a return to Earth and landing capability that compliments the existing launch options of the Ariane and Vega families. | |
| 06/04/2019 | Dozens of satellites joining Vega’s ride-share to space |
| More than 40 satellite missions will be launched at once by Europe’s Vega launcher this autumn, thanks to the innovative modular “Lego-style� dispenser resting on its upper stage. | |
| 06/04/2019 | All engines GO for Vega-C maiden flight |
| ESA is working with industry towards the maiden flight of Europe’s new Vega-C launch vehicle in 2020 for more launches, with increased performance, to more orbits. | |
| 06/04/2019 | New era for New Norcia deep space antenna |
| The 35-m deep space antenna in New Norcia, Western Australia, is being looked after by a new team, led for the first time by a female site manager, Suzy Jackson. | |
| 05/31/2019 | Mars on Earth – what next? |
| A Mars Sample Return campaign would bring samples of the Red Planet back to Earth for examination in the best terrestrial laboratories – but choosing the samples and storing them on Mars for later return is only one part of the extensive campaign bein... | |
| 05/31/2019 | The radiation showstopper for Mars exploration |
| An astronaut on a mission to Mars could receive radiation doses up to 700 times higher than on our planet – a major showstopper for the safe exploration of our Solar System. A team of European experts is working with ESA to protect the health of futur... | |
| 05/30/2019 | ExoMars orbiter prepares for Rosalind Franklin |
| On 15 June, the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will follow a different path. An ‘Inclination Change Manoeuvre’ will put the spacecraft in an altered orbit, enabling it to pick up crucial status signals from the ExoMars rover, Rosalind F... | |
| 05/30/2019 | A European mission control for the martian rover |
| The ExoMars rover has a brand new control centre in one of Europe’s largest Mars yards. The Rover Operations Control Centre (ROCC) was inaugurated today in Turin, Italy, ahead of the rover’s exploration adventure on the Red Planet in 2021. | |
| 05/27/2019 | Getting ready for Mars – on the Space Station |
| From disrupted biological clocks to radiation and contamination hazards, Europe is running experiments on the International Space Station to take human exploration one step closer to Mars. | |
| 05/24/2019 | Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration to join Pioneer-IODA project |
| Space cameras to monitor the deployment of satellites and check the health of spacecraft will be developed under the Pioneer-IODA project by Micro-Cameras and Space Exploration based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. | |
| 05/23/2019 | Clocks, gravity, and the limits of relativity |
| The International Space Station will host the most precise clocks ever to leave Earth. Accurate to a second in 300 million years the clocks will push the measurement of time to test the limits of the theory of relativity and our understanding of gravi... | |
| 05/23/2019 | A unique experiment to explore black holes |
| What happens when two supermassive black holes collide? Combining the observing power of two future ESA missions, Athena and LISA, would allow us to study these cosmic clashes and their mysterious aftermath for the first time. | |
| 05/17/2019 | Satellites yield insight into not so permanent permafrost |
| Ice is without doubt one of the first casualties of climate change, but the effects of our warming world are not only limited to ice melting on Earth’s surface. Ground that has been frozen for thousands of years is also thawing, adding to the climate... | |
| 05/16/2019 | A quarter of glacier ice in West Antarctica is now unstable |
| By combining 25 years of ESA satellite data, scientists have discovered that warming ocean waters have caused the ice to thin so rapidly that 24% of the glacier ice in West Antarctica is now affected. | |
| 05/16/2019 | The air we breathe |
| Air pollution is a global environmental health problem, especially for those living in urban areas. Not only does it negatively impact our ecosystems, it considerably affects our health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 8 milli... | |
| 05/15/2019 | Monitoring Earth’s shifting land |
| The monitoring of land subsidence is of vital importance for low-lying countries, but also areas which are prone to peculiar ground instability. | |
| 05/15/2019 | Reprogrammable satellite takes shape |
| The payload and platform of the first European satellite that can be completely reprogrammed after launch have been successfully joined together. The assembly of Eutelsat Quantum took place in the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, on 10 May. | |
| 05/15/2019 | 3D Earth in the making |
| A thorough understanding of the ‘solid Earth’ system is essential for deciphering the links between processes occurring deep inside Earth and those occurring nearer the surface that lead to seismic activity such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions,... | |
| 05/15/2019 | Water cycle wrapped |
| As our climate changes, the availability of freshwater is a growing issue for many people around the world. Understanding the water cycle and how the climate and human usage is causing shifts in natural cycling processes is vital to safeguarding suppl... | |
| 05/14/2019 | Mapping salty waters |
| The length and precision with which climate scientists can track the salinity, or saltiness, of the oceans is set to improve dramatically according to researchers working as part of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative. | |
| 05/14/2019 | New potential for tracking severe storms |
| Even just within the last couple of months, Cyclones Fani, Idai and Kenneth have brought devastation to millions. With the frequency and severity of extreme weather like this expected to increase against the backdrop of climate change, it is more impo... | |
| 05/14/2019 | Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier bucks the trend |
| Our planet works in mysterious ways. We are all used to hearing about the world’s ice being the first casualty of climate change and, indeed, it is declining fast. However, recent findings show that one glacier is not conforming to the norm – it’s act... | |
| 05/13/2019 | Joining forces on Earth science to benefit society |
| With human activity leaving its indelible mark on the landscape and affecting the climate, our natural world is changing faster than at any other time in history. Science is fundamental to understanding environmental change so that these huge challeng... | |
| 05/13/2019 | Space Station science looking at Earth |
| In this edition of our bi-weekly update on European research run on the International Space Station, we’re taking our cue from the Living Planet Symposium – the largest conference on Earth Observation taking place this week in Milan, Italy – and focus... | |
| 05/13/2019 | Spotlight on the pulse of our planet |
| Satellites deliver crucial information to help solve what is our biggest global problem: climate change. As well as taking the pulse of our planet, satellite data are used in a myriad of daily applications, and are also used increasingly in business.... | |
| 05/09/2019 | Maritime microsatellite ESAIL to test the waters as launch contract is signed |
| The first commercial microsatellite developed under ESA’s SAT�AIS programme for tracking ships, called ESAIL, has passed another milestone. On 9 May its Canadian operator exactEarth signed the launch service agreement with Arianespace. | |
| 05/06/2019 | Recognising sustainable behaviour |
| Solving the growing problem of space debris will require everyone who flies rockets and satellites to adhere to sustainable practices, which doesn’t always happen. Now there will be a way to recognise those who do. | |
| 05/06/2019 | Adding satnav to turn power grids into smart systems |
| An ESA-backed project is harnessing satnav to insert an intelligent sense of place and time to power grids, to provide early warning of potentially dangerous electricity network failures. | |
| 05/02/2019 | Hera’s APEX CubeSat will reveal the stuff that asteroids are made of |
| From Earth asteroids appear as little more than dots in the sky. Europe’s miniature APEX spacecraft will operate as a mineral prospector in deep space, surveying the make-up of its target asteroids down to individual boulders, helping prepare the way... | |
| 05/02/2019 | Observing Gaia from Earth to improve its star maps |
| While ESA’s Gaia mission has been surveying more than one billion stars from space, astronomers have been regularly monitoring the satellite’s position in the sky with telescopes across the world, including the European Southern Observatory in Chile,... | |
| 05/01/2019 | Hera’s CubeSat to perform first radar probe of an asteroid |
| Small enough to be an aircraft carry-on, the Juventas spacecraft nevertheless has big mission goals. Once in orbit around its target body, Juventas will unfurl an antenna larger than itself, to perform the very first subsurface radar survey of an aste... | |
| 05/01/2019 | Swarm helps explain Earth’s magnetic jerks |
| Our protective magnetic field is always restless, but every now and then something weird happens – it jerks. Although scientists have known about these rapid shifts for some 40 years, the reason why they occur has remained a frustrating mystery, until... | |
| 04/29/2019 | Scientists get to the bottom of a ‘spitting’ black hole |
| Data from ESA’s Integral high-energy observatory have helped shed light on the workings of a mysterious black hole found spitting out ‘bullets’ of plasma while rotating through space. | |
| 04/26/2019 | The day the asteroid might hit |
| For the first time, ESA will cover a major international asteroid impact exercise live via social media, highlighting the the actions that might be taken by scientists, space agencies and civil protection organisations. | |
| 04/22/2019 | Earth vs. asteroids: humans strike back |
| Incoming asteroids have been scarring our home planet for billions of years. This month humankind left our own mark on an asteroid for the first time: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a copper projectile at very high speed in an attempt to form a... | |
| 04/22/2019 | Earth vs. asteroids: humans strike back |
| Incoming asteroids have been scarring our home planet for billions of years. This month humankind left our own mark on an asteroid for the first time: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a copper projectile at very high speed in an attempt to form a... | |
| 04/12/2019 | Rocket break-up provides rare chance to test debris formation |
| The discarded ‘upper stage’ from a rocket launched almost ten years ago has recently crumbled to pieces. | |
| 04/08/2019 | Stargazing technology used to spot cancer |
| An X-ray machine which uses space technology to generate crystal clear images that doctors can use to detect the early signs of cancer has been prioritised for €1.2m of funding by the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. | |
| 04/08/2019 | Martian soil detox could lead to new medicines |
| Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of humankind’s major long-term health challenges. Now research into helping humans live on Mars could help address this looming problem. | |
| 04/05/2019 | BepiColombo is ready for its long cruise |
| Following a series of tests conducted in space over the past five months, the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission has successfully completed its near-Earth commissioning phase and is now ready for the operations that will take place during the cruise and, ev... | |
| 04/05/2019 | A decade-long quest to build an ecosystem in a room |
| Yesterday the MELiSSA pilot plant at the University of Barcelona celebrated 10 years spent demonstrating the ideal technologies to recycle waste from space missions into air, water and food. As astronauts explore farther into our Solar System, there... | |
| 04/02/2019 | Forging the future |
| Where does ESA get its ideas from? One major source of new concepts is through our Discovery & Preparation activities, forming part of ESA’s Basic Activities. Working with and across all ESA programmes, from human spaceflight to Earth observa... | |
| 03/20/2019 | Taking gravity from strength to strength |
| Ten years ago, ESA launched one of its most innovative satellites. GOCE spent four years measuring a fundamental force of nature: gravity. This extraordinary mission not only yielded new insights into our gravity field, but led to some amazing discove... | |
| 03/10/2019 | ESA helps business fly in space |
| New ‘cubesat’ technology and falling launch costs mean that businesses, universities and other organisations are increasingly able to launch their own small satellites. Now ESA is offering facilities and know-how to help them fly. | |
| 03/08/2019 | Space workshops to power urban innovation |
| In May, two workshops organised with the help of ESA, will foster industrial collaboration between space and non-space-based industry to boost urban innovation. | |
| 03/08/2019 | ESA joins with business to invent the future of navigation |
| The only thing more remarkable than how all of us are walking around with space-grade navigation capability and atomic clock timing precision in our pockets is how much we take all of this for granted. Satellite navigation has changed our lives, trigg... | |
| 03/08/2019 | New observations for the new economy |
| We all listen to weather forecasts and know they rely on satellite data. What may not be so obvious is that many other aspects of our lives depend on robust satellite data, from growing crops to tackling the major issue of climate change. The socio-ec... | |
| 03/06/2019 | How ESA helps launch bright ideas and new careers |
| Hundreds of innovative companies—many with little or no direct connections to the space industry—have prospered from forming partnerships with the European Space Agency. | |
| 02/19/2019 | Interactive space simulation for nanosatellites |
| Pioneer partner Open Cosmos are taking mission development to a new dimension, using a virtual reality-like simulation that replicates life in orbit for space technologies. | |
| 02/13/2019 | Shrinking heart |
| This heart-shaped body of water may look cute for Valentine’s Day but just as love sometimes fades, this emerald sea is withering away. | |
| 02/12/2019 | Loving big |
| Since it’s Valentine’s Day soon, we’re all feeling romantic and so we bring you this image of a heart-shaped lake in Argentina – and like all love, it’s special. | |
| 02/11/2019 | Island love |
| With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we will soon be expressing our love to those nearest and dearest – and maybe that can include our beautiful home planet, after all it needs all the love and care it can get. | |
| 02/07/2019 | Science key to taking the pulse of our planet |
| For some, the concept of ‘science’ may seem difficult or even boring, particularly if it was taught poorly at school. However, with all of us facing the consequences of a rapidly changing world, science is fundamental to implementing adaptation and mi... | |
| 02/04/2019 | ESA plans mission to smallest asteroid ever visited |
| ESA’s planet-defending Hera mission will set a new record in space. The asteroid investigator will not only be the first spacecraft to explore a binary asteroid system – the Didymos pair – but the smaller of these two worldlets, comparable in size to... | |
| 02/04/2019 | Kite-blown Antarctic explorers make most southerly Galileo positioning fix |
| A kite-blown science expedition to the interior of Antarctica has made the most southerly positioning fixes yet made with Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system. | |
| 12/24/2018 | ESA sets clock by distant spinning stars |
| ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands has begun running a pulsar-based clock. The ‘PulChron’ system measures the passing of time using millisecond-frequency radio pulses from multiple fast-spinning neutron stars. | |
| 12/24/2018 | Mission accomplished for ESA’s butane-propelled CubeSat |
| The cereal-box sized GomX-4B – ESA’s biggest small CubeSat yet flown – has completed its mission for the Agency, testing out new miniaturised technologies including: intersatellite link communication with its GomX-4A twin, a hyperspectral imager, star... | |
| 12/21/2018 | Reflecting on Earthrise: 50 years on |
| Monday 24 December marks 50 years since Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders snapped an iconic image of Earth rising above the lunar surface. | |
| 12/20/2018 | ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst returns to Earth – for the second time |
| ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst returned to Earth today alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev. | |
| 12/20/2018 | ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst returns to Earth – for the second time |
| ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst returned to Earth today alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev. | |
| 12/18/2018 | ESA paves way for new space transport services |
| Imagine moving satellites to higher orbits, collecting space debris, and dedicated launches for small satellites. These are the winning entries of ESA’s call for ideas on new commercial space transportation services. | |
| 12/18/2018 | ESA’s 25 years of telecom: looking to the horizon |
| As ESA’s umbrella programme for telecom, ARTES, celebrates its 25th year, we have examined why it was set up, how it and the European satcom environment have evolved, and the opportunities and challenges that both face today. In this final instalment,... | |
| 12/18/2018 | Fake plastic atoms |
| Our world is made of atoms and molecules, but even with the most powerful microscopes we can only see snapshots, never how they move and interact with each other. To model how atoms behave, researchers have been using plastic particles in weightlessne... | |
| 12/14/2018 | Update from ESA Council, December 2018 |
| The ESA Council held its 277th meeting at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt on 12 and 13 December 2018. | |
| 12/14/2018 | December comet brings back Rosetta memories |
| A special visitor is crossing the sky: Comet 46P/Wirtanen, sighted with telescopes and binoculars in recent weeks, is on the way to its closest approach to Earth this weekend, when it might become visible to the naked eye. | |
| 12/13/2018 | New and improved ESA Kids website |
| The ESA Education office is proud to launch the new and improved ESA Kids website, the online home of Paxi, the ESA Education mascot. With the new design and organisation, ESA Kids is the one-stop shop for all space-related information, resources, mul... | |
| 12/12/2018 | Rosetta witnesses birth of baby bow shock around comet |
| A new study reveals that, contrary to first impressions, Rosetta did detect signs of an infant bow shock at the comet it explored for two years – the first ever seen forming anywhere in the Solar System. | |
| 12/10/2018 | Slow flow for glaciers thinning in Asia |
| Providing water for drinking, irrigation and power, glaciers in the world’s highest mountains are a lifeline for more than a billion people. As climate change takes a grip and glaciers lose mass, one might think that, lubricated by more meltwater, the... | |
| 12/07/2018 | Another El Niño on the horizon? |
| The jury is still out as to whether climate change will lead to stronger El Niño events, but while representatives from around 200 countries at the COP24 conference are working to breathe life into the 2105 Paris Agreement, there is a 75–80% chance th... | |
| 12/06/2018 | Greenland ice loss quickening |
| Using a 25-year record of ESA satellite data, recent research shows that the pace at which Greenland is losing ice is getting faster. | |
| 12/06/2018 | Ariane 6 on the way to flight |
| This has been an intense year for Ariane 6 development, with progress boosted across Europe: plants are manufacturing new parts using novel methods, all engines have been tested, and the construction of launch facilities is well underway. | |
| 12/06/2018 | Learning from lunar lights |
| Every few hours observing the Moon, ESA’s ‘NELIOTA’ project discovers a brilliant flash of light across its surface – the result of an object hurtling through space and striking our unprotected rocky neighbour at vast speed. Based at the Kryoneri tele... | |
| 12/04/2018 | SpaceNews award for ESA |
| ESA was named ‘Government Agency of the Year’ in the recent SpaceNews Awards for Excellence and Innovation. SpaceNews honours excellence and innovation among space professionals, companies, programmes and organisations annually. | |
| 11/29/2018 | ESA team blasts Intel’s new AI chip with radiation at CERN |
| An ESA-led team subjected Intel’s new Myriad 2 artificial intelligence chip to one of the most energetic radiation beams available on Earth. This test of its suitability to fly in space took place at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Researc... | |
| 11/29/2018 | Lift off for Pioneering nanosats |
| The first ‘Pioneer’ mission lifted off early this morning from Sriharikota, India, with the two inventive little nanosatellites now circling the Earth, ready for action. | |
| 11/27/2018 | ESA’s 25 years of telecom: today’s challenges and opportunities |
| As ESA’s umbrella programme for telecom, ARTES, celebrates its 25th year, we will be examining why it was set up, how it and the European satcom environment have evolved, the opportunities and challenges that both face today, and what the future... | |
| 11/23/2018 | Focus on Vega developments |
| Vega is proving its reliability. Based on this heritage, ESA and European industry are building new elements that will increase Vega’s performance, capabilities and flexibility from mid-2019. | |
| 11/21/2018 | Space Talks at Frankfurt Airport |
| Throughout November, Europe has been talking space in a series of grassroots events sweeping across the continent. To mark the grand finale of the European Space Talks on 24 November, ESA, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and its partners invite you... | |
| 11/16/2018 | Is it a bird? Is it a plane? |
| It may not be your actual Superman, but participants to ESA’s ɸ-week are certainly embracing some ‘superhero’ ideas for the future of Earth observation, including high-flying platforms – something between a satellite and an aircraft. | |
| 11/15/2018 | Space making the virtual a reality |
| What do astronauts, Pokémon, wildlife park rangers and surgeons all have in common? | |
| 11/14/2018 | UNICEF and ɸ: Earth observation and innovation for the most vulnerable |
| Every day, UNICEF works to help children that are victims of poverty, disease, conflict, migration and more. These problems are not only tragic, but also extremely complex. To further improve the way it works, UNICEF is taking a non-traditional approa... | |
| 11/12/2018 | ESA’s space vision presented at Paris Peace Forum |
| ESA astronaut Claudie Haigneré attended the Paris Peace Forum this weekend, presenting the Agency’s vision for engaging humankind in multilateral cooperation for space exploration with peaceful objectives. | |
| 11/12/2018 | ESA’s 25 years of telecom: the beginning |
| As ESA’s umbrella programme for telecom, ARTES, celebrates its 25th year, we will be examining why it was set up, how it and the European satcom environment have evolved, the opportunities and challenges that both face today, and what the future holds. | |
| 11/05/2018 | ESA rocks space weather |
| This week, to coincide with the fifteenth annual European Space Weather Week, ESA is celebrating the dynamic phenomenon of space weather. | |
| 10/31/2018 | Galactic ghosts: Gaia uncovers major event in the formation of the Milky Way |
| ESA’s Gaia mission has made a major breakthrough in unravelling the formation history of the Milky Way. | |
| 10/31/2018 | Counting down to MetOp-C |
| Teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany have been training for months in preparation for next week’s launch of MetOp-C – the last in the current series of meteorological satellites that provide high-quality data for weather forecast... | |
| 10/30/2018 | Goodbye Europe, hello Moon: European Module ships soon |
| The European Service Module that will power and propel the Orion spacecraft on its first mission around the Moon will ship early next week from Bremen to the United States. It will take off in an Antonov An-124 aircraft in the early hours of 5 Novembe... | |
| 10/26/2018 | ESA on the way to Space19+ and beyond… |
| European ministers in charge of space activities met this week at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre near Madrid, Spain, to preview ESA’s vision for the future of Europe in space. | |
| 10/25/2018 | Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloud |
| Since 13 September, ESA’s Mars Express has been observing the evolution of an elongated cloud formation hovering in the vicinity of the 20 km-high Arsia Mons volcano, close to the planet’s equator. | |
| 10/24/2018 | Media Briefing: New Horizons Team Previews Ultima Thule Flyby |
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| 10/24/2018 | Copernicus Sentinel-5P reveals new nasties |
| With air quality a serious environmental health problem, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite is tasked with mapping air pollutants around the entire globe every day. This new mission has been providing data on carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and oz... | |
| 10/22/2018 | BepiColombo's beginning ends |
| A stunning early morning launch lifted the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft into space on Saturday, 20 October. This marked the start of intensive, round-the-clock flight control activities to ensure the mission’s health and functioning in the harsh en... | |
| 10/19/2018 | Minerals of the world, unite! |
| Imagine you are on Mars and you stumble upon an interesting rock. The colours, the shape of the crystals and the place where you find it all tell you: there is more to it than meets the eye. Tool in hand, you analyse how light scatters through it. Sec... | |
| 10/17/2018 | Mission control ready for Mercury |
| Teams responsible for flying the bold BepiColombo mission to Mercury today completed the last major step in preparation for Saturday’s liftoff — the final pre-launch ‘dress rehearsal’ at ESA’s ESOC control centre in Darmstadt, Germany. | |
| 10/17/2018 | Installing life support the hands-free way |
| Last week saw the installation of ESA’s next-generation life-support system on the International Space Station. The new facility recycles carbon dioxide in the air into water that can then be converted into oxygen reducing supplies sent from Earth by... | |
| 10/16/2018 | European Space Talks: we need more space! |
| Space concerns everyone. It contributes to our lives on a daily basis and can help to solve some of humankind’s greatest challenges. Find out more, and how space affects you, with European Space Talks… | |
| 10/12/2018 | Practising for BepiColombo’s epic escape to Mercury |
| The international BepiColombo spacecraft will soon take flight, on a complex journey to the innermost planet of the Solar System, Mercury. Encompassing nine planetary flybys and travelling a total distance of nine billion km over a period of seven yea... | |
| 10/08/2018 | INTO ORBIT℠with 2018 FIRST® LEGO® League competition |
| How can I walk my dog on the Moon? What happens if I sneeze in space? Just some of the questions that more than 500 000 children around the world will be asking and attempting to answer over the next months, as part of this year’s FIRST LEGO League co... | |
| 10/07/2018 | SAOCOM 1A Mission |
| On Sunday, October 7 at 7:21 p.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched the SAOCOM 1A satellite from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite was deployed about 12 minutes after liftoff. | |
| 10/05/2018 | New Horizons Sets Up for New Year's Flyby of Ultima Thule |
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| 10/05/2018 | Sentinel-2 maps Indonesia earthquake |
| A 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia on 28 September, destroying homes and hundreds of lives. As the death toll continues to rise, the effects of this natural disaster are far-reaching, with hundreds of thousands of people seeking acce... | |
| 10/04/2018 | Construction of Europe's exoplanet hunter Plato begins |
| The construction of ESA's Plato mission to find and study planets beyond our Solar System will be led by Germany’s OHB System AG as prime contractor, marking the start of the full industrial phase of the project. | |
| 10/04/2018 | Explore the Moon and Earth’s climate with two new ESA school projects! |
| In the beginning of the World Space Week, ESA is proud to present two new school challenges: Climate Detectives and Moon Camp. | |
| 10/02/2018 | Gaia spots stars flying between galaxies |
| A team of astronomers using the latest set of data from ESA’s Gaia mission to look for high-velocity stars being kicked out of the Milky Way were surprised to find stars instead sprinting inwards – perhaps from another galaxy. | |
| 09/28/2018 | New Horizons Team Rehearses for New Year's Flyby |
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| 09/28/2018 | See the future at ESA’s IAC Start-up Space Zone |
| From Lego-style satellites that plug together to robot avatars for lunar exploration, satellite maps for Arctic navigation to a DNA-analysing 'tricorder': next week 24 of planet Earth's top start-ups will showcase their cutting-edge ideas for space an... | |
| 09/26/2018 | ESA technology making LA Metro a safer ride |
| Thousands of daily passengers on the Los Angeles Metro will ride more securely with the deployment of cutting-edge ESA-patented screening technology to detect concealed weapons or explosives. | |
| 09/25/2018 | ESA choosing CubeSat companions for Hera asteroid mission |
| As the world marvels at the hopping mini-rovers deployed on asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa2, ESA is due to decide on the CubeSats planned for delivery to a binary asteroid system by its proposed Hera mission. | |
| 09/20/2018 | Recent tectonics on Mars |
| These prominent trenches were formed by faults that pulled the planet’s surface apart less than 10 million years ago. | |
| 09/19/2018 | Gaia hints at our Galaxy’s turbulent life |
| ESA’s star mapping mission, Gaia, has shown our Milky Way galaxy is still enduring the effects of a near collision that set millions of stars moving like ripples on a pond. | |
| 09/18/2018 | Orion’s first Service Module integration complete |
| Last week at the Airbus integration hall in Bremen, Germany, technicians installed the last radiator on the European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft marking the module’s finished integration. ESA’s European service module will provide powe... | |
| 09/18/2018 | First Passenger on Lunar BFR Mission |
| On September 17, 2018, SpaceX announced fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa will be the company’s first private passenger flight around the Moon for 2023. | |
| 09/17/2018 | New Horizons Team Successfully Observes Next Target, Sets the Stage for Ultima Thule Flyby |
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| 09/15/2018 | Copernicus Sentinel maps Florence hurricane flood |
| Making landfall in the US state of North Carolina on 14 September, Hurricane Florence is causing widespread damage and flooding. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission is being used to map affected areas. | |
| 09/14/2018 | New kid on the block picks up relay for ozone |
| For more than 20 years, changes in ozone over Antarctica have been carefully monitored by a succession of European satellites. This important long-term record is now being added to by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission, which is dedicated to atmospher... | |
| 09/12/2018 | Aeolus wows with first wind data |
| Just one week after ESA’s Aeolus satellite shone a light on our atmosphere and returned a taster of what’s in store, this ground-breaking mission has again exceeded all expectations by delivering its first data on wind – a truly remarkable feat so ear... | |
| 09/05/2018 | Aeolus laser shines light on wind |
| Following the launch of Aeolus on 22 August, this extraordinary satellite’s instrument has been turned on and is now emitting pulses of ultraviolet light from its laser, which is fundamental to measuring Earth’s wind. And, this remarkable mission has... | |
| 09/03/2018 | Making space exploration real – on Earth |
| You are on a rock speeding through space. On this rock called Earth every single mineral tells you something about planetary formation. This week astronauts and space engineers will unlock the mystery of those minerals as they start an ESA geology fie... | |
| 08/31/2018 | BepiColombo science orbiters stacked together |
| The two science orbiters of the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission are connected in their launch configuration and the European science orbiter and transport module have been given the go-ahead to be loaded with propellants. | |
| 08/30/2018 | European Space Talks: sharing our passion for space |
| The European Space Talks initiative will give you, as a member of the European space community, the opportunity to join other space professionals, researchers and enthusiasts in presenting your latest research, activities or interests in space. | |
| 08/28/2018 | Ultima in View |
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| 08/27/2018 | Artwork unveiled on exoplanet satellite |
| Two plaques etched with thousands of miniaturised drawings made by children have been unveiled in a dedicated ceremony held today in Switzerland. | |
| 08/24/2018 | Wind mission ready for next phase |
| Having worked around the clock since the launch of Aeolus on Wednesday, teams at ESA’s control centre in Germany have declared today that the critical first phase for Europe’s wind mission is complete. | |
| 08/23/2018 | ESA’s Aeolus wind satellite launched |
| ESA’s Earth Explorer Aeolus satellite has been launched into polar orbit on a Vega rocket. Using revolutionary laser technology, Aeolus will measure winds around the globe and play a key role in our quest to better understand the workings of our atmos... | |
| 08/22/2018 | New Horizons Begins Its Approach to Ultima Thule |
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| 08/20/2018 | Infant exoplanet weighed by Hipparcos and Gaia |
| The mass of a very young exoplanet has been revealed for the first time using data from ESA’s star mapping spacecraft Gaia and its predecessor, the quarter-century retired Hipparcos satellite. | |
| 08/20/2018 | Bricks from Moon dust |
| Lunar masonry starts on Earth. European researchers are working with Moon dust simulants that could one day allow astronauts to build habitats on our natural satellite and pave the way for human space exploration. | |
| 08/17/2018 | Aeolus teams ready for space |
| The teams responsible for flying the Aeolus satellite completed a pre-launch ‘dress rehearsal’ at ESA’s ESOC operations centre in Darmstadt today, the last major step in getting ready for next Tuesday’s liftoff. | |
| 08/10/2018 | Students digging into data archive spot mysterious X-ray source |
| An enigmatic X-ray source revealed as part of a data-mining project for high-school students shows unexplored avenues hidden in the vast archive of ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory. | |
| 08/06/2018 | Merah Putih Mission |
| On Tuesday, August 7th at 1:18 a.m. EDT, Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida carrying the Merah Putih mission for PT Telkom Indonesia. | |
| 08/06/2018 | Recipe for a spacewalk |
| ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen may be stationed on the ground, but his expertise was vital to the recent spacewalk of two NASA astronauts, Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold. From maintaining constant radio contact on the day, to simulating activities unde... | |
| 07/25/2018 | Iridium-7 NEXT Mission |
| On Wednesday, July 25, 2018 at 4:39 a.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched ten Iridium NEXT satellites from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. | |
| 07/25/2018 | Mars Express detects liquid water hidden under planet’s south pole |
| Radar data collected by ESA’s Mars Express point to a pond of liquid water buried under layers of ice and dust in the south polar region of Mars. | |
| 07/24/2018 | Aeolus — preparing to fly the wind mission |
| The launch of Aeolus — ESA’s mission to map Earth’s wind in real-time — is getting tantalisingly close, with the satellite due for lift-off on 21 August from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. With the wind in their sails, mission teams are... | |
| 07/20/2018 | The True Colors of Pluto and Charon |
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| 07/20/2018 | Name Europe’s robot to roam and search for life on Mars |
| The UK Space Agency has launched a competition to name a rover that is going to Mars to search for signs of life. | |
| 07/20/2018 | What’s your idea to 3D print on the Moon – to make it feel like home? |
| A new ESA-led project is investigating the ways that 3D printing could be used to create and run a habitat on the Moon. Everything from building materials to solar panels, equipment and tools to clothes, even nutrients and food ingredients can potenti... | |
| 07/18/2018 | Martian atmosphere behaves as one |
| New research using a decade of data from ESA’s Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting those seen higher up. | |
| 07/17/2018 | From an almost perfect Universe to the best of both worlds |
| It was 21 March 2013. The world’s scientific press had either gathered in ESA’s Paris headquarters or logged in online, along with a multitude of scientists around the globe, to witness the moment when ESA’s Planck mission revealed its ‘image’ of the... | |
| 07/16/2018 | Focus on the future of space transportation: ESA’s call for ideas |
| ESA is calling for ideas that will shape the future of space transportation services – to space, in space and returning from space. | |
| 07/13/2018 | Enhancing competitiveness of European space Sector with increased investments |
| Today, ESA Director General Jan Wörner and Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Ambroise Fayolle signed a joint statement on enhancing the competitiveness of the European space sector by supporting investments in actors of the sector w... | |
| 07/13/2018 | Enhancing competitiveness of European space sector with increased investments |
| Today, ESA Director General Jan Wörner and Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Ambroise Fayolle signed a joint statement on enhancing the competitiveness of the European space sector by supporting investments in actors of the sector w... | |
| 07/09/2018 | MetOp-C launch campaign kicks off |
| The MetOp-C launch campaign has kicked off with the first of three Antonovs landing at Cayenne Airport, French Guiana on 20 June. | |
| 06/28/2018 | New launch date for James Webb Space Telescope |
| After completion of an independent review, a new launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope has been announced: 30 March 2021. | |
| 06/22/2018 | Charon Discovered 40 Years Ago |
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| 06/22/2018 | Earth’s squishy interior gives rapid rise to Antarctica |
| Parts of Earth’s crust are rising very slowly owing to post-glacial rebound, but using GPS, researchers have found that West Antarctica is rising faster than almost anywhere else in the world. And, ESA’s GOCE gravity mission has, in turn, helped them... | |
| 06/08/2018 | Second Space Station mission for Alexander Gerst begins |
| ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst arrived at the International Space Station today together with NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev, marking the start of Alexander’s Horizons mission. | |
| 06/07/2018 | Sleek telescope makes it in the Big Apple |
| Just in time for Asteroid Day, New York’s Museum of Modern Art has selected a sleek new portable telescope from French start-up Vaonis for its prestigious MoMA Design Store. | |
| 06/06/2018 | ESA astronaut Pedro Duque appointed to new Spanish government |
| The new Spanish Prime Minister has announced his intention to appoint Spanish ESA astronaut Pedro Duque as Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities. | |
| 06/06/2018 | Liftoff – Alexander Gerst returns to space |
| Today at 11:12 GMT (13:12 CEST) ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was launched into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. | |
| 06/05/2018 | New Horizons Wakes for Historic Kuiper Belt Flyby |
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| 06/05/2018 | ICE Cubes space research service open for business |
| The first European facility for commercial research on the International Space Station was installed today in Europe's space laboratory Columbus. The International Commercial Experiments service – ICE Cubes for short – offers fast, simple and affordab... | |
| 06/05/2018 | Per Tegnér (1944-2018) |
| With great sadness we announce the death of Mr Per Tegnér, former ESA Council Chair and Swedish delegate, who passed away last week, aged 74. | |
| 06/05/2018 | Wind satellite shows off |
| Before ESA’s Aeolus satellite is packed up and shipped to French Guiana for liftoff in August, media representatives had the chance to see this wind measuring Earth Explorer satellite standing proud in the cleanroom. | |
| 06/05/2018 | Next two Galileos plus launcher at Europe’s Spaceport for July launch |
| Galileo satellites 25 and 26 have landed at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, joining their two predecessors ahead of their 25 July launch by Ariane 5. | |
| 06/01/2018 | From horizon to horizon: Celebrating 15 years of Mars Express |
| Fifteen years ago, ESA’s Mars Express was launched to investigate the Red Planet. To mark this milestone comes a striking view of Mars from horizon to horizon, showcasing one of the most intriguing parts of the martian surface. | |
| 05/31/2018 | ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano to be Space Station commander on his next flight |
| Next year ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano is returning to the International Space Station for his second mission and he will be acting as commander of the weightless research outpost during the second part of his flight. | |
| 05/29/2018 | Red Planet rover set for extreme environment workout |
| A representative model of the ExoMars rover that will land on Mars in 2021 is beginning a demanding test campaign that will ensure it can survive the rigours of launch and landing, as well as operations under the environmental conditions of Mars.... | |
| 05/29/2018 | Sentinel-1 warns of refugee island flood risk |
| In what the UN describes as the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis, almost 700 000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017. With the Bangladesh government proposing a vulnerable low-lying island as a relo... | |
| 05/25/2018 | Student Hyperloop motor tested at ESA |
| Dutch students due to compete in Elon Musk’s high-speed ‘Hyperloop’ challenge this July subjected their motor module to near-vacuum conditions within ESA’s technical heart. | |
| 05/25/2018 | Sentinels modernise Europe’s agricultural policy |
| In a move that could benefit around 22 million farmers, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy has entered the space age. Offering detailed and timely information on crops and farmland, the Copernicus Sentinels are now being used to simplify and modernis... | |
| 05/09/2018 | Copernicus Sentinel-3B delivers first images |
| Less than two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite has delivered its first images of Earth. Exceeding expectations, this first set of images include the sunset over Antarctica, sea ice in the Arctic and a view of northern... | |
| 04/12/2018 | Mars impact crater or supervolcano? |
| These images from ESA’s Mars Express show a crater named Ismenia Patera on the Red Planet. Its origin remains uncertain: did a meteorite smash into the surface or could it be the remnants of a supervolcano? | |
| 04/11/2018 | Pluto's Largest Moon Gets Its First Official Feature Names |
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| 04/11/2018 | Mars Express v2.0 |
| Every so often, your smartphone or tablet receives new software to improve its functionality and extend its life. Now, ESA’s Mars Express is getting a fresh install, delivered across over 150 million km of space. | |
| 04/10/2018 | Swarm tracks elusive ocean magnetism |
| The magnetic field is arguably one of the most mysterious features of our planet. ESA’s Swarm mission is continually yielding more insight into how our protective shield is generated, how it behaves and how it is changing. Adding yet another string to... | |
| 04/09/2018 | ExoMars poised to start science mission |
| The ExoMars orbiter will soon begin its search for gases that may be linked to active geological or biological activity on the Red Planet. | |
| 04/06/2018 | Ariane 5’s second launch of 2018 |
| An Ariane 5, operated by Arianespace, has delivered the DSN-1/Superbird-8 and Hylas-4 telecom satellites into their planned orbits. | |
| 04/02/2018 | Dragon Resupply Mission (CRS-14) |
| On Monday, April 2 at 4:30 p.m. EDT, SpaceX had a successful liftoff of its fourteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-14) to the International Space Station. | |
| 04/02/2018 | Storm hunter launched to International Space Station |
| ESA’s observatory to monitor electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere is on its way to the International Space Station. The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor is riding in the Dragon cargo vehicle that lifted off at 20:30 GMT (16:40 local time... | |
| 03/30/2018 | Iridium-5 Mission |
| On Friday, March 30 at 7:13 a.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched the Iridium-5 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. | |
| 03/30/2018 | The Viking, the dragon and the god of thunder |
| Scandinavian mythology stories are rich in fantastic creatures, and a Nordic astronaut is about to write a new chapter as Space Viking Andreas Mogensen monitors the arrival of the Dragon cargo vessel at the International Space Station next week. The p... | |
| 03/30/2018 | ESA reentry expertise |
| Every week, on average, a substantial, inert satellite drops into our atmosphere and burns up. Monitoring these reentries and warning European civil authorities has become routine work for ESA’s space debris experts. | |
| 03/26/2018 | A space window to electrifying science |
| Lightning triggers powerful electrical bursts in Earth’s atmosphere almost every second. The inner workings of these magnificent forces of nature are still unknown, but a rare observation by an ESA astronaut gave a boost to the science community. A Eu... | |
| 03/23/2018 | Sentinel-3B launch preparations in full swing |
| With the Sentinel-3B satellite now at the Plesetsk launch site in Russia and liftoff set for 25 April, engineers are steaming ahead with the task of getting Europe’s next Copernicus satellite ready for its journey into orbit. | |
| 03/22/2018 | Automated sea vehicles for monitoring the oceans |
| A new company from ESA’s UK business incubator has developed an autonomous boat that is propelled by the waves and carries ocean sensors powered by solar energy. | |
| 03/22/2018 | Safeguarding our most precious resource: water |
| According to this year’s Global Risk Report by the World Economic Forum, water crises are one of the five biggest risks to society. ESA is working with development banks to help water-resource authorities use information from satellites to manage this... | |
| 03/21/2018 | Join us for #Sentinel3 launch |
| Be a part of Europe’s Earth observation revolution by applying to join experts at one of two Sentinel-3B launch #SocialSpace activities on 25 April. | |
| 03/20/2018 | Earth’s atmosphere: new results from the International Space Station |
| With ESA’s help, the latest atmosphere monitor on the International Space Station is delivering results on our planet’s ozone, aerosol and nitrogen trioxide levels. Installed last year on the orbital outpost, NASA’s sensor tracks the Sun and Moon to p... | |
| 03/20/2018 | ESA's next science mission to focus on nature of exoplanets |
| The nature of planets orbiting stars in other systems will be the focus for ESA’s fourth medium-class science mission, to be launched in mid 2028. | |
| 03/20/2018 | Sentinels helping to map minerals |
| The traditional way of mapping Earth’s geology and mineral resources is a costly and time-consuming undertaking. While satellites cannot entirely replace the expert in the field, they can certainly help – as a recent effort in Africa shows. | |
| 03/19/2018 | ESA testing detection of floating plastic litter from orbit |
| The millions of tonnes of plastic ending up in the oceans every year are a global challenge. ESA is responding by looking at the detection of marine plastic litter from space, potentially charting its highest concentrations and understanding the gigan... | |
| 03/16/2018 | Getting to know Steve |
| Steve – a strange shimmering ribbon of purple light in the night sky – was discovered in 2016, but now, thanks to ESA’s Swarm mission, more is known about this weird feature of the aurora. | |
| 03/13/2018 | New Horizons Chooses Nickname for 'Ultimate' Flyby Target |
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| 03/09/2018 | Voyaging for the Sentinels |
| Two recent expeditions that took scientists 26 000 km across the Atlantic Ocean have returned critical information to make sure that the Copernicus Sentinel satellites are delivering accurate data about the state of our oceans. | |
| 03/05/2018 | World-first firing of air-breathing electric thruster |
| In a world-first, an ESA-led team has built and fired an electric thruster to ingest scarce air molecules from the top of the atmosphere for propellant, opening the way to satellites flying in very low orbits for years on end. | |
| 03/02/2018 | ESA incubators ranked among world´s best |
| Two ESA business incubators have been ranked fourth and seventh in the world classification of university-affiliated incubators evaluated in 53 countries. | |
| 03/01/2018 | Mars Express views moons set against Saturn's rings |
| New images and video from ESA’s Mars Express show Phobos and Deimos drifting in front of Saturn and background stars, revealing more about the positioning and surfaces of the Red Planet’s mysterious moons. | |
