Space News & Blog Articles

ESA Impact 2023 – Quarter 3

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On Friday 29 September, the European Space Agency opened the doors of the ESA Centre for Earth Observation, ESRIN, to host the ESA Open Day in the framework of the European Researchers' Night. With a full program of presentations, interviews, interactive games, hands-on workshops and various activities, more than 1400 people, among adults and children, had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the activities and programs in which ESA is involved every day.

Image: The heart of the Nueva Vizcaya Province on Luzon, the largest and most populated island of the Philippines, shows up brightly in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 false-colour image.

Our planet is being continuously bathed in radio signals from satnav satellites – which are useful for much more than just navigation. Dedicated space missions acquire these signal reflections to amass valuable environmental information. The shoebox-sized PRETTY CubeSat, flying on Europe’s next Vega launcher, will investigate a new frequency and novel observation angle to better measure the rate of climate change – at the same time as gathering radiation data on its surrounding space environment.

Image: Image comparing views of Sun with two Solar Orbiter instruments

Thanks to their ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, forests have long been recognised as a key tool in the fight against climate change – but not all forests are equal. New research based on data from ESA’s SMOS satellite mission has found that, surprisingly, young trees are champions at carbon capture.

A briefcase-sized CubeSat being flown on Europe’s next Vega launcher this week will gather 340 km wide views of Earth’s vegetation growth, employing a spectral imager originally designed for ESA’s decade-in-flight Proba-V.

Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record. The hole, which is what scientists call an ‘ozone depleting area,’ reached a size of 26 million sq km on 16 September 2023. This is roughly three times the size of Brazil.

A new collaboration between ESA and Swiss watchmaker Swatch allows space fans to design their own space-themed watch using stunning images from space telescopes.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen will venture outside the International Space Station to look for install a new camera and prepare an experiment for a future upgrade on his first spacewalk on 12 October, starting at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST).

Estonia’s next satellite will fly aboard Europe’s Vega VV23 launcher later this week. While largely designed and built by undergraduate students, the shoebox-sized ESTCube-2 has ambitious goals in mind, including surveys of Estonian vegetation and the first successful in-orbit demonstration of ‘plasma brake’ technology. Deployment of a charged microtether will slow the CubeSat’s orbit, proving the prospect of helping to keep space clear of dangerous debris in the future.

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Media briefing on the findings of the Independent Enquiry Commission tasked with analysing the results of the static-firing test of the Vega-C Zefiro 40 motor, which took place on 28 June 2023.

New images of the Orion Nebula from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have been included in ESA’s ESASky application, which has a user-friendly interface to visualise and download astronomical data.

Week in images: 25-29 September 2023

Image: Part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field with its white glaciers and aquamarine lakes is featured in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image from 10 January 2023.

The Biofilms study continues its cosmic quest to combat bacterial contamination. With three experiments aboard the International Space Station, it's on a mission to improve antimicrobial technology, benefitting astronauts and people on Earth alike.

Image: Hera takes wing

Spain’s trio of ANSER CubeSats, due to fly on Europe’s next Vega launcher, will fly like a flock of birds in orbit – in more ways than one. Keeping in formation by following their leader, the three shoebox-sized satellite will image Iberian waters as if they are a single standard-sized mission. And they will unfurl wing-like flaps to maintain their relative positions, surfing on the scanty airflow at the top of Earth’s atmosphere.

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ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen became commander of the International Space Station (ISS) on September 26, 2023, in a traditional ceremony in which the departing commander, Sergey Prokopyev, handed over the symbolic key of the Space Station. Mogensen is the sixth European to take on the role of ISS commander.