European Space Agency

Video: 00:02:27 ESA’s Proba-3 mission lifted off on its PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on Thursday, 5 December, at 11:34 CET (10:34 GMT, 16:04 local time). View the full article

A pair of spacecraft were launched together today from India with the potential to change the nature of future space missions. ESA’s twin Proba-3 platforms will perform precise formation flying down to a single millimetre, as if they were one single giant spacecraft. To demonstrate their degree of control, the pair will produce artificial solar eclipses in orbit, giving prolonged views of the Sun’s ghostly surrounding atmosphere, the corona. View the full article

View the full article

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found new galaxies in the Spiderweb protocluster. Their characteristics reveal that new galaxies are forming in these large cosmic cities, with the finding that gravitational interactions in these dense regions are not as important as previously thought. View the full article

Video: 00:09:01 Proba-3 is such an ambitious mission that it needs more than one single spacecraft to succeed. In order for Proba-3’s Coronagraph spacecraft to observe the Sun’s faint surrounding atmosphere, its disk-bearing Occulter spacecraft must block out the fiery solar disk. This means Proba-3’s Occulter ends up facing the Sun continuously, making it a valuable platform for science in its own right. Proba-3 is scheduled for launch on a PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on Wednesday, 4 December, at 11:38 CET (10:38 GMT, 16:08 local time). View the full article

ESA’s Proba-3 will be the first mission to create an artificial total solar eclipse by flying a pair of satellites 150 metres apart. For six hours at a time, it will be able to see the Sun’s faint atmosphere, the corona, in the hard-to-observe region between the Sun’s edge and 1.4 million kilometres from its surface. This new technology combined with the satellite pair’s unique extended orbit around Earth will allow Proba-3 to do important science, revealing secrets of the Sun, space weather and Earth’s radiation belts. View the full article

Video: 00:02:39 The Ignis mission, named after the Latin word for ‘fire,’ symbolises the spark igniting a new era in Poland’s space endeavours. The central motif of the patch features an eagle – a reference to the emblem of Poland – in white and red, reflecting the colours and design of the Polish national flag. Its tail gracefully evokes a flame, while its outstretched wings trace the contours of the Orla Perć mountain range in the Polish Tatra Mountains. Within the mission’s name, the second ‘i’ takes the form of the International Space Station. Above it, stars converge to form the Scutum constellation, paying homage to astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-87), who was born in the Polish city of Gdańsk. Finally, a silver line represents the horizon, signifying the dawn of a new era in space exploration. For more details, read the press release here. Follow Sławosz’s journey on the Ignis website. View the full article

Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in bringing 5G technology to space, marking a pivotal moment in telecommunications history. The 5G Infrastructure Study (5G-IS), funded by ESA’s Connectivity and Secure Communications directorate, has mapped out how satellites can deliver reliable 5G connectivity worldwide. View the full article

A mesmerising audiovisual experience from trip-hop collective Massive Attack that blends an original score with stunning satellite images of Earth was enjoyed by thousands of climate enthusiasts in Liverpool. View the full article

What’s harder than flying a single satellite in Earth orbit? Flying two – right beside each other, at proximities that would normally trigger collision avoidance manoeuvres. View the full article

Image: BepiColombo's fifth Mercury flyby View the full article

The Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite is ready for liftoff! Tune in to ESA WebTV on 4 December from 22:00 CET to watch the satellite soar into space on a Vega-C rocket to be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Sentinel-1C is scheduled to liftoff at 22:20 CET. View the full article

Week in images: 25-29 November 2024 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Image: A colourful patchwork of agricultural fields is pictured in this radar image captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 over southeastern Romania. View the full article

ESA’s eclipse-making precise formation-flying mission is nearly ready for liftoff! Proba-3 is scheduled for launch on a PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on Wednesday, 4 December, at 11:38 CET (10:38 GMT, 16:08 local time). View the full article

Video: 00:56:21 Watch the replay of the Sentinel-1C pre-launch media briefing for detailed information on the mission which will be launched aboard a Vega-C rocket no earlier than 4 December at 18:20 local time (22:20 CET) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. View the full article

Watch live: Sentinel-1C pre-launch media briefing Follow the media briefing today at 15:00 CET on ESA Web TV View the full article

Today, the ESA awarded a contract to Open Cosmos to design, build, launch and commission the NanoMagSat Scout satellites. This new mission will uphold Europe’s leadership in monitoring Earth’s magnetic field and contribute to applications such as space weather hazard assessment, navigation, directional drilling, and more. View the full article

The SubOrbital Express-4 sounding rocket was successfully launched from the Esrange Space Center outside Kiruna, in the north of Sweden, at 06:00 CET yesterday morning. View the full article

Image: Webb traces spiral arms in infrared View the full article

As the launch of the Sentinel-1C satellite approaches, we reflect on some of the many ways the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has given us remarkable radar insights into our planet over the years. View the full article

Hidden in plain sight within the Sun’s glare is the ultra-hot yet ghostly faint solar corona, source of the solar wind and solar storms. The only way to see this key element of the Solar System is either through the remarkable cosmic coincidence that gives rise to total solar eclipses – the fact that the Sun is not only 400 times bigger than our Moon but also about 400 times further away, allowing it to cover the solar disc entirely – or else through artificial Sun-obscuring telescopes. View the full article

A new mid-infrared image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a smooth inner disk is revealed. The sharp resolution of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) also brings into focus details of the galaxy’s outer ring, providing insights into how the dust, an essential building block for astronomical objects in the Universe, is distributed. The galaxy’s outer ring shows intricate clumps in the infrared for the first time. View the full article

The countdown is on! The 2024 call for applications for ESA’s Student Internship Programme closes on 30 November. This is your moment to take the first step towards an extraordinary career in space. Explore this year’s internship opportunities on our job portal and imagine yourself contributing to the next breakthroughs in space. Craft your profile, upload your CV and share your passion in your motivation letter. Don’t just dream of space—become a part of it! Apply today and set your career on a trajectory for success with ESA. View the full article

Week in images: 18-22 November 2024 Discover our week through the lens View the full article