European Space Agency
The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200
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Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of a rare celestial visitor: a comet from beyond our Solar System. Officially named 3I/ATLAS, this newly identified interstellar object is only the third of its kind ever observed, following the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. View the full article
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Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Cheops mission have caught an exoplanet that seems to be triggering flares of radiation from the star it orbits. These tremendous explosions are blasting away the planet’s wispy atmosphere, causing it to shrink every year. This is the first-ever evidence for a ‘planet with a death wish’. Though it was theorised to be possible since the nineties, the flares seen in this research are around 100 times more energetic than expected. View the full article
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Video: 00:03:30 Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US. Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges. The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument. Copernicu…
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Video: 00:02:30 Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US. Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges. The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument. Copernicu…
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The second of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellites and the first instrument for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission lifted off at 23:04 CEST on Tuesday, 1 July. The satellite is now on its way to monitor Earth’s atmosphere from an altitude of 36 000 km. From this geostationary orbit, the missions can provide game-changing data for forecasting severe storms and air pollution over Europe. View the full article
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Video: 00:00:57 Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US. Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges. The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument. Copernicu…
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Image: A powerful heatwave has been gripping large parts of southern Europe. This image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission’s Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on 29 June 2025, reveals the temperature of the land surface. View the full article
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ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot selected the French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to develop the bonus food she will bring to the International Space Station during her mission εpsilon. View the full article
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The Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite, which is hosting the instrument for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission, has been placed inside the nose cone of the Falcon 9 launch rocket and is ready for the scheduled liftoff at 23:03 CEST on Tuesday, 1 July. View the full article
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Video: 00:01:38 On 11 June, engineers at OHB’s facilities in Germany joined together the two main parts of ESA’s Plato mission. They used a special crane to lift Plato’s payload module, housing its 26 ultra-sensitive cameras, into the air and carefully line it up over the service module. The supporting service module contains everything else that the spacecraft needs to function, including subsystems for power, propulsion and communication with Earth. With millimetre-level precision, the engineers gently lowered the payload module into place. Once perfectly positioned, the team tested the electrical connections. Finally, they securely closed a panel that connec…
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Image: A starburst shines in infrared (MIRI) View the full article
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Video: 00:04:13 Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA head of Space and Robotic Exploration, explains that Ignis mission will include an ambitious technological and scientific programme with several experiments led by ESA and proposed by the Polish space industry. On 26 June 2025, ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and his crewmates arrived to the International Space Station on the Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4). The Polish project astronaut is the second of a new generation of European astronauts to fly on a commercial human spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space. View the full article
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Week in images: 23-27 June 2025 Discover our week through the lens View the full article
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Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid’s story continues. The final glimpse of the asteroid as it faded out of view of humankind’s most powerful telescopes left it with a 4% chance of colliding with the Moon on 22 December 2032. The likelihood of a lunar impact will now remain stable until the asteroid returns to view in mid-2028. In this FAQ, find out why we are left with this lingering uncertainty and how ESA's planned NEOMIR space telescope will help us avoid similar situations in the future. View the full article
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At the Living Planet Symposium, attendees have been hearing how ESA’s Next Generation Gravity Mission could provide the first opportunity to directly track a vital ocean circulation system that warms our planet – but is now weakening, risking a possible collapse with far-reaching consequences. View the full article
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The second of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellites and the first instrument for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission are ready for liftoff at Cape Canaveral in Florida, US. Live coverage of this launch will be shown on ESA WebTV, not earlier than Tuesday, 1 July. View the full article
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The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has captured a swirl of colour on the Red Planet, with yellows and rust-oranges meeting deep reds and browns. Lurking within this martian palette are not one but four dust devils, each snaking their way across the surface. View the full article
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At ESA’s Living Planet Symposium, scientist have unveiled how the combination of different long-term, high-resolution satellite datasets from ESA’s Climate Change Initiative is shedding new light on the South American Gran Chaco – one of the world’s most endangered dry forest ecosystems. These data reveal, in remarkable clarity, that fire is the primary driver of widespread, accelerating deforestation across the region. View the full article
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Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7. If confirmed, this would represent Webb’s first direct image discovery of a planet, and the lightest planet ever seen with this technique. View the full article
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Video: 00:03:10 These are the highlights of the launch on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) of ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland to the International Space Station. The mission is called Ignis. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on 25 June 2025. Sławosz is mission specialist on the Dragon spacecraft. The other crew members are Shubhanshu Shukla from India and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. They fly under the command of Peggy Whitson from USA. Sponsored by the Polish government and supported by ESA, the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MRiT), and the Polish Space …
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While satellites have revolutionised our ability to measure sea level with remarkable precision, their data becomes less reliable near coasts – where accurate information is most urgently needed. To address this critical gap, ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Sea Level Project research team has reprocessed almost two decades of satellite data to establish a pioneering network of ‘virtual’ coastal stations. These stations now provide, for the first time, reliable and consistent sea-level measurements along coastlines. View the full article
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Video: 00:03:50 The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew lifts off to the International Space Station atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on 25 June at 02:31 EDT, local time (07:31 BST/08:31 CEST). ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski travels to his new home in space in the Dragon spacecraft. Sławosz is part of Axiom Mission 4 alongside Peggy Whitson (USA), Shubhanshu Shukla (India) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). During their journey on the Dragon spacecraft to the orbital outpost Sławosz and Tibor will serve as mission specialists, Shubhanshu will be the crew’s pilot and Peggy will be commander. The Poli…
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Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, but its seismic nature is part of a much broader geological history. In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists, supported by an ESA-funded project, have uncovered the underlying forces that forged the North Atlantic’s fiery volcanic past – shedding light on the vast geological region that spans from Greenland to western Europe, which is home to iconic natural wonders like the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. View the full article
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Video: 02:08:03 ESA’s Living Planet Symposium, one of the world’s leading Earth observation conferences, opened today in Vienna. The plenary session began at 10:30 CEST and included addresses from ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes Simonetta Cheli, as well as Margit Mischkulnig, from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation. There were video addresses from President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen, Federal Minister for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure Republic of Austria Peter Hanke and the EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius. Representatives of the United Nations Office for Out…
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Video: 00:06:07 Space is huge and essential to humankind, fuelling knowledge, supporting our economies and driving global prosperity. None of this would be possible without reliable access to space. Since 1979, Europe has relied on the Ariane rockets and Vega series to launch its missions. Today, with Ariane 6 and Vega-C, ESA ensures Europe's autonomous and independent access to space. But we are also looking ahead. With the Ariane Smart Transfer and Release In-orbit Ship (ASTRIS), Phoebus, P160C boosters, the MR-10 engine and more, ESA is enhancing its rockets with new innovations that improve cost, performance, capability and sustainability. ESA is also leading…
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