Space News & Blog Articles

Video: 00:06:45

Smile is the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, a brand-new space mission currently in the making. It will study space weather and the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s environment.

Image: Getting Proba-3 fit for flight

ESA is taking a significant step towards creating a more digitally inclusive Europe through a new partnership that will bring internet access to the hardest-to-reach areas. Reliable connectivity has become essential in today's digital age, yet for many Europeans in rural villages, mountainous regions, and small islands, dependable internet access remains out of reach.

A new European Space Agency-backed study shows that the extreme heatwaves of 2023, which fuelled huge wildfires and severe droughts, also undermined the land’s capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon. This diminished carbon uptake drove atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to new highs, intensifying concerns about accelerating climate change.

Video: 00:09:09

On 12 November 2014, after a ten-year journey through the Solar System and over 500 million kilometres from home, Rosetta’s lander Philae made space exploration history by touching down on a comet for the first time. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary feat, we celebrate by taking a look back over the mission's highlights.

On 12 November 2014, after a ten year journey through the Solar System and over 500 million kilometres from home, Rosetta’s lander Philae made space exploration history by touching down on a comet for the first time. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary feat, we celebrate Philae’s impressive achievements at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

12 November 2024 marks the start of a new year on Mars. At exactly 10:32 CET/09:32 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet begins a new orbit around our Sun.

Week in images: 04-08 November 2024

This compilation of images, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, showcases the characteristic hues of autumn in different European countries.

ESA’s Hera mission has completed the first critical manoeuvre on its journey to the Didymos binary asteroid system since launch on 7 October.

Image: Snow returns to Mount Fuji

Space startups and SMEs can meet ESA’s SME Office at Space Tech Expo, a space technology trade fair and conference in Bremen, Germany from 19–21 November.

Proba-3 is such an ambitious mission that it needs more than one single spacecraft to succeed. In order for Proba-3’s Coronagraph spacecraft observe the Sun’s faint surrounding atmosphere, its disk-bearing Occulter spacecraft must block out the fiery solar disk. This means Proba-3’s Occulter ends up facing the Sun continuously, making it a valuable platform for science in its own right.

Image: 3D-printed rovers play spot the ball

Torrential rainfall causing deadly flash floods has hit southern and eastern Spain in regions including the Costa del Sol, where the city of Malaga is located, and Valencia in the east. As these areas struggle to cope with the aftermath, satellite technology has played a crucial role in assessing the damages of the affected areas.

Image: Moon waves goodbye to Hera

Week in images: 28 October - 01 November 2024

The Space Resources Challenge was launched last week, an opportunity for innovators to pioneer the technologies that will help humankind live and work sustainably on the Moon.

Image: The icy landscape of Ross Island in Antarctica is featured in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image from 3 February 2024, during the austral summer.

The 2025 ESA internship opportunities are now live! Positions are open in a wide range of fields, including engineering, science, IT, natural and social sciences, business, economics, and administrative services. This is your chance to launch your career in the extraordinary world of space exploration—don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to gain hands-on experience with one of the world’s leading space organisations!