Space News & Blog Articles

Image: Spooky Earths seen by Hera’s HyperScout

ESA’s solar eclipse-making Proba-3 mission is about to leave Europe, to head to its launch site in India. The mission’s two spacecraft – which will manoeuvre precisely in Earth orbit so that one casts a shadow onto the other – have departed the facilities of Redwire Space in Kruibeke, Belgium. The pair will be flown to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, near Chennai, for the launch campaign to begin. 

Image: Spain is suffering its worst flood in decades after torrential rains struck the eastern province of Valencia. These satellite images vividly illustrate the dramatic transformation of the landscape.

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Robots in disguise: our Hera asteroid detective plus her CubeSat buddies  – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – dressed up for Halloween!

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The construction phase of ESA’s Ariel mission has started at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France) with the assembly of the spacecraft’s structural model. This marks a significant step forward for this mission designed to meticulously inspect the atmospheres of a thousand exoplanets and uncover their nature.

Image: ESA Astronaut Reserve training kicks off at EAC

The two CubeSat passengers aboard ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence have exchanged their first signals with Earth, confirming their nominal status. The pair were switched on to check out all their systems, marking the first operation of ESA CubeSats in deep space.

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English Paxi explores wind

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From 14 to 18 October 2024, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) returned for its 75th edition, and ESA took on a front-centre role, from presenting Europe’s future space ambitions and showcasing major steps towards them, to addressing global challenges alongside other world space leaders. Held at the Milano Congress Centre (MiCo), the largest conference venue in Europe, the event brought together more than 11 000 experts from industry, research institutions, and space agencies worldwide. The first four days featured a comprehensive programme of events and presentations for professionals and stakeholders, while the final day was open to the public.

Week in images: 21-25 October 2024

New research, partially funded by ESA, reveals that the cool ‘ocean skin’ allows oceans to absorb more atmospheric carbon dioxide than previously thought. These findings could enhance global carbon assessments, shaping more effective emission-reduction policies.

What does satellite navigation have to do with sustainable development? Quite a lot, in fact. Satnav and other positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies provide critical data that support green solutions across numerous sectors. From enabling smart mobility to optimising energy grids and facilitating precision farming, the potential for PNT to drive sustainability is immense.

Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image showcases the rich agricultural landscape of northern Ohio in the mid-western of the United States.

Image: Proba-1’s T-plus 23 years in orbit

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Watch the replay of the media briefing in which ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher updates journalists on the key decisions taken at the ESA Council meeting, held in Paris on 23 and 24 October 2024.

An international team of astronomers has used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to detect the first brown dwarf candidates outside the Milky Way in the star cluster NGC 602.

ESA Impact Council Edition: Your update on space achievements

Image: Cities in Emilia-Romagna, a region in northern Italy, have been hit by severe flooding after heavy rainfall over the weekend. Flooded areas are visible in this multi-temporal image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. The comparison uses an image from 8 October (before the floods) and one from 20 October (after the floods). The blue areas highlight the areas impacted by flooding.

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia.

ESA has signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA worth €63 million to begin preparatory work on the Agency’s proposed Ramses mission to the infamous asteroid Apophis.