Space News & Blog Articles

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Hera asteroid mission hears the noise

ESA’s Hera asteroid mission has completed acoustic testing, confirming the spacecraft can withstand the sound of its own lift-off into orbit. Testing took place within the Agency’s Large European Acoustic Facility at the ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands. This is Europe’s largest and most powerful sound system, fitted with a quartet of noise horns that can generate more than 154 decibels of extreme noise.

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Earth from Space: Autumn in Japan

Image: This image, from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on 1 November 2023, captures the colours of autumn over the Japanese archipelago.

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A green glow in the martian night

When future astronauts explore Mars’s polar regions, they will see a green glow lighting up the night sky. For the first time, a visible nightglow has been detected in the martian atmosphere by ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission.

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Open doors for the ESA-ESAC Open Day

Video: 00:04:25

On Saturday 21st October, the European Space Agency opened the doors of the European Space Astronomy Centre in Villanueva de la Cañada (near Madrid), ESAC, to host the ESA Open Day. With a full program of talks and activities, the event featured tours, hands-on laboratories for children and get-togethers with science communicators, ESA astronaut and experts. More than 1800 people, among adults and children, had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the activities and programs in which ESA is involved every day.

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ESA prepares the ground for a European commercial presence in LEO post-ISS

At the ESA Space Summit in Seville, ESA, Airbus and Voyager Space have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining their collaboration for the Starlab space station in the post-International Space Station (ISS) era.

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AI maps icebergs 10,000 times faster than humans

In a groundbreaking development, researchers from the University of Leeds have unveiled a neural network that can swiftly and accurately chart the expanse of large Antarctic icebergs in satellite images, accomplishing the task in a mere 0.01 seconds. This novel approach is in stark contrast to the laborious and time-consuming manual efforts needed previously.

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ESA further boosts RFA One across Europe

ESA has committed further 'Boost! Programme' funding to German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg, known as RFA, for the development of commercial space transportation services based on the RFA One launch vehicle at sites in Portugal, Germany and the UK.

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Earth through a 2-mm lens

Image: Earth through a 2-mm lens

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Euclid’s first images: the dazzling edge of darkness

Video: 00:45:00

ESA is releasing the first full-colour images of the cosmos captured by its recently launched space telescope Euclid. Follow live a broadcast of the reveal on Tuesday 7 November at 13:15 GMT / 14:15 CET. Never before has a telescope been able to create such razor-sharp astronomical images across such a large patch of the sky. Five images show that the telescope is ready for its mission to create the most extensive 3D map of the Universe yet and uncover some of its hidden secrets.

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Euclid's first images: the dazzling edge of darkness

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Ireland’s first satellite on its way to launch

After years of development with the support of the ESA Education programme, the Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 (EIRSAT-1) is set to launch in November, marking Ireland’s first steps into space.   

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Space Summit 2023 Press Conference

Video: 00:45:00

Government ministers representing ESA’s Member States, Associate States and Cooperating States met for a Council meeting on 6 November 2023 during the Space Summit in Seville, Spain. They resolved together to strengthen Europe’s space ambitions to better serve European citizens. At the same time, ESA will open a new era of modernising the implementation of its programmes, responding to growing commercialisation and privatisation of space activities, in particular in the fields of space transportation and space exploration. The opening of the meeting was followed by an introduction by ESA Director General and statements by Member, Associate and Cooperating States and observers.

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Ministers back Europe’s sustainable and competitive space ambitions

Europe will harness space for a greener future, take decisive steps in exploration, and ensure autonomous access to space while preparing a paradigm shift towards a more competitive next generation of launchers, following decisions taken today at the ESA Space Summit in Seville.

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World-first Zero Debris Charter goes live

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ESA Council at ministerial level - Part 1

Video: 02:00:00

Government ministers representing ESA’s Member States, Associate States and Cooperating States met for a Council meeting on 6 November 2023 during the Space Summit in Seville, Spain. They resolved together to strengthen Europe’s space ambitions to better serve European citizens. At the same time, ESA will open a new era of modernising the implementation of its programmes, responding to growing commercialisation and privatisation of space activities, in particular in the fields of space transportation and space exploration. The opening of the meeting was followed by an introduction by ESA Director General and statements by Member, Associate and Cooperating States and observers.

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ESA and EC to unite on climate action from space

ESA and the European Commission are joining forces to accelerate the use of Earth-observing satellites and the information they provide to address the pressing challenge of climate change.

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New dossier showcases how space is driving a greener future on Earth

The role that space can play in a greener future for us all is high on the agenda at today's ESA Space Summit. A new ‘green dossier’ to be released alongside the event in Seville on 6-7 November showcases how ESA’s flagship business-to-business programme is fuelling an unprecedented growth in green and sustainable space-enabled commercial activities to address the challenges of climate change.

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Week in images: 30 October - 03 November 2023

Week in images: 30 October - 03 November 2023

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Preparing for Euclid’s first images: from puzzling data to dazzling views

Video: 00:02:59

Never before has a telescope been able to create such razor-sharp astronomical images across such a large patch of the sky.

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Earth from Space: Lake Maracaibo

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, the largest natural body of water in South America.

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Watch the Space Summit live

At the Space Summit on 6 November 2023, Ministers of ESA’s Member States will raise Europe’s ambition to drive forward space for a green future, take decisive steps in exploration, and ensure Europe’s access to space, while preparing a paradigm shift towards a more competitive next generation of launchers.

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