Space News & Blog Articles

Video: 00:03:57

It has been an exciting and busy summer for the European Space Agency, with development and testing of its new Ariane 6 launcher. At Europe’s spaceport in, French Guiana, a test model of the launcher’s central core was assembled for the first time. Ariane 6 is the first Ariane rocket to be assembled horizontally, which is simpler and less costly than more traditional vertical assembly. Then, the rocket was moved to its launchpad and placed upright in the massive mobile gantry for combined tests, to validate the compatibility between all components of the complete launch system. Soon more testing will be done on Ariane 6’s upper stage at a purpose-built DLR facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany.

Video: 00:00:58

ESA’s Solar Orbiter has solved the mystery of a magnetic phenomenon in the solar wind. It has taken the first ever image of a ‘switchback’ in the solar corona, confirming its predicted ‘S’ shape. A switchback is defined by rapid flips in magnetic field direction. The observed switchback is linked to an active region associated with sunspots and magnetic activity where there is an interaction between open and closed magnetic field lines. The interaction releases energy and sends the S-shaped disturbance into space. The new data suggest that switchbacks could originate near the solar surface, and may be important in understanding the acceleration and heating of the solar wind.

With data from its closest pass of the Sun yet, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has found compelling clues as to the origin of magnetic switchbacks, and points towards how their physical formation mechanism might help accelerate the solar wind.

Week in images: 05-09 September 2022

This is ESA is an illustrated guide to what ESA is and what we do. It has been available in print since 2019. Now this brochure is also available as an interactive publication in all ESA Member State languages. 

Before Europe’s first Meteosat Third Generation Imager leaves the south of France at the end of the month aboard a ship bound for French Guiana, this remarkable new weather satellite has been taking centre stage at Thales Alenia Space’s facilities in Cannes.

Registration is now open for the 11th annual ESA Open Day at ESTEC, open to all visitors. ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, will be open from 10:00 to 17:00 on Sunday 2 October, giving visitors a chance to meet astronauts, space scientists and engineers and learn all about the work carried out at Europe’s largest space establishment.

Image:

Astronomers have been bemused to find young stars spiralling into the centre of a massive cluster of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The outer arm of the spiral in this huge, oddly shaped stellar nursery – called NGC 346 – may be feeding star formation in a river-like motion of gas and stars. This is an efficient way to fuel star birth, researchers say.

Staying in touch with each another always, no matter whereabouts on Earth, is crucial for everything from driverless cars to remote healthcare, electronically enabled commerce, tele-education and remote working.

The fourth Spacebus Neo satellite to benefit from ESA’s Neosat programme has launched into space on board the second Ariane 5 launch mission of 2022.

Video: 00:01:00

This video takes the viewer on a journey that zooms through space to reveal the Tarantula Nebula.

Thousands of never-before-seen young stars are spotted in a stellar nursery called 30 Doradus, captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Nicknamed the Tarantula Nebula for the appearance of its dusty filaments in previous telescope images, the nebula has long been a favourite for astronomers studying star formation. In addition to young stars, Webb reveals distant background galaxies, as well as the detailed structure and composition of the nebula’s gas and dust.

Astronauts with their sights on the Moon are receiving world-class geology training during the fifth edition of ESA’s Pangaea campaign. From choosing landing sites for a future Artemis mission, to designing science operations for the lunar surface, the course challenges space explorers to become field scientists.

Week in images: 29 August - 02 September 2022

More than 265 000 visitors headed to Cologne in Germany for Gamescom last week – the world’s largest computer and video games fair. As well as the latest games releases, they got a chance to discover that ESA and the gaming world have a lot in common.

Image: Webb takes its first exoplanet image

Europe’s latest Galileo satellites in space have joined the operational constellation, transmitting navigation signals to three billion users across planet Earth as well as relaying distress calls to rescuers. Their entry into service follows a summer test campaign and will result in a measurable increase in positioning accuracy and improved data delivery performance of the overall Galileo system.

Image: One small step for a robot

This month NASA’s DART spacecraft will collide with the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids in deep space, attempting to shift its orbit in what will be humankind’s first test of the ‘kinetic impactor’ planetary defence technique. Meanwhile, down on the ground, ESA’s follow-on mission to Didymos has reached its own crucial milestone.

Image: Inflatable Moon base