European Space Agency

Video: 01:15:00 Watch the replay of the media information session where ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Council Chair Renato Krpoun (CH) brief journalists on the key decisions made during the ESA Council meeting held at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 11–12 June 2025. View the full article

Thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun’s poles from outside the ecliptic plane. Solar Orbiter’s unique viewing angle will change our understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field, the solar cycle and the workings of space weather. View the full article

ESA Impact: Pick of our spring space snaps View the full article

Video: 00:02:00 ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski is heading to the International Space Station on his first mission as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). He is the second ESA project astronaut from a new generation of Europeans to fly on a commercial human spaceflight mission with Axiom Space. Sponsored by the Polish government and supported by ESA, the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MRiT), and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the mission—called Ignis—features an ambitious technological and scientific programme. It includes several experiments proposed by the Polish space industry and developed in cooperation with ESA, along with additional ESA-led experiments. Follow Sławosz's journey on the Ignis mission website and discover more about the next mission patch to be hung on the walls of the Columbus Control Centre. View the full article

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Week in images: 02-06 June 2025 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Image: A thick plume of sand and dust from the Sahara Desert is seen in these satellite images blowing from the west coast of Africa across the Atlantic Ocean. View the full article

On 31 May, a live performance of The Blue Danube – often referred to as the ‘anthem of space’ – was transmitted by the European Space Agency (ESA) into the vastness of space. The event marked a double celebration: ESA’s 50th anniversary and the 200th birthday of the King of Waltz Johann Strauss II. View the full article

The Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellite (MTG-S) will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events. Here are five ways in which Europe’s latest weather satellite will change how we forecast weather. View the full article

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) newest planetary defender has opened its ‘eye’ to the cosmos for the first time. The Flyeye telescope’s ‘first light’ marks the beginning of a new chapter in how we scan the skies for new near-Earth asteroids and comets. View the full article

After an extraordinary six-week voyage from northern Norway, the iconic Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl has docked in Nice, France, concluding ESA’s 2025 Advanced Ocean Training course. Braving everything from wild storms to calm near-freezing seas, students aboard mastered techniques for collecting ocean measurements and harnessed satellite data to unlock insights into our blue planet. Led by experts, this real-world expedition offered more than education – it sparked curiosity and a deeper commitment to understanding and protecting our oceans. View the full article

On 31 May 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) made history by transmitting a live performance of The Blue Danube Waltz into space from its Cebreros deep space antenna in Spain. This symbolic gesture elevated Johann Strauss II’s famous waltz, often considered the unofficial ‘anthem of space’, to its rightful place among the stars. View the full article

From its vantage point outside Earth’s atmosphere, more than 36 000 km above Earth’s surface, the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission will detect major air pollutants over Europe in unprecedented detail. It will observe how they vary on an hourly basis – a real breakthrough for air quality forecasting. View the full article

Video: 00:02:27 An animation showing ESA’s Smile mission watching on as the Sun’s solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. View the full article

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission has captured a dramatic image of Mount Etna erupting on 2 June 2025 when a massive plume of ash, gas and rock suddenly burst from Europe's largest active volcano. View the full article

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace will attempt to land its RESILIENCE spacecraft on the Moon no earlier than 5 June (CEST) 2025. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) global network of ground stations is facilitating communication between the spacecraft and ispace mission control. Click here to watch the ispace landing livestream in English. View the full article

Over a decade’s worth of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope data was used to re-examine the long-held prediction that the Milky Way galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy in about 4.5 billion years. The astronomers found that, based on the latest observational data from Hubble and Gaia, there is only a 50-50 chance of the two galaxies colliding within the next 10 billion years. View the full article

Week in images: 26-30 May 2025 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

The deadline to apply for ESA’s Junior Professional Programme (JPP) is fast approaching, with applications closing on 5 June. The JPP is a unique opportunity for recent graduates and early-career professionals to gain hands-on experience at one of the world’s leading space organisations. Successful candidates will work on real ESA projects alongside experienced experts in fields ranging from engineering and science to business and administration. If you are ready to take the first step towards a future in space, don’t miss this opportunity. Submit your application before the 5 June deadline. View the full article

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission shows us a rare, cloud-free view of Iceland captured on 17 May 2025. View the full article

Video: 00:02:46 For half a century, the European Space Agency (ESA) has been serving Europe as its space agency and inspiring its citizens. On 30 May 1975, the ESA Convention was signed by 10 founding Member States and has since now expanded to 23 Member States, three Associate Members, four Cooperating States and a Cooperation Agreement with Canada. This anniversary year provides the opportunity to reflect not only on ESA’s past achievements, but even more so on its future perspectives. View the full article

Video: 00:02:27 2025 marks a landmark year for Europe’s ‘bridge between Earth and space’. The European Space Agency’s Estrack satellite tracking network turns 50. Since its inception in 1975, Estrack – ESA’s global network of ground stations – has formed the vital communication bridge between satellites in orbit and mission control at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Now comprising six stations spanning six countries, Estrack has grown into a strategic asset for Europe, enabling communication with spacecraft, transmitting commands and receiving scientific data. The network keeps an eye on satellites no matter their location: tracking them across Earth orbit, voyaging to comets or asteroids, keeping station at the scientifically important Sun-Earth Lagrange points, and deep into our Solar System. It even keeps tabs on European launchers as they soar into orbit, ensuring no rocket is ever out of reach. Fittingly, this celebration of technological excellence coincides with the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II and the 50th anniversary of ESA. To honour this convergence of milestones, ESA and the Vienna Tourist Board are orchestrating a unique mission: broadcasting The Blue Danube Waltz to its destined home among the stars. Don’t miss the live concert of the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra) on Saturday, 31 May. The event will start at 20:30 CEST and the transmission from ESA’s Cebreros antenna will occur at 21:30 CEST. The live stream can be followed via space.wien.info and the Vienna Instagram channel. Waltzing celebration for half a century of European satellite tracking View the full article

The next time astronauts land on the Moon, we will watch it in high-definition. The transmission will be in colour, digital and at up to 60 frames per second. View the full article

The European Space Agency (ESA) has inaugurated the European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre (ESDI), the first ESA presence in Switzerland, created in close collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The new centre is located at the Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare in Villigen. The opening highlights the growing role of deep tech in space exploration and its potential to boost Europe's growth and competitiveness. View the full article

The performance of a lower limb prosthesis has been evaluated in microgravity conditions for the first time during the latest ESA parabolic flight campaign on the ‘Zero G’ aircraft. View the full article