European Space Agency

ESA’s Hera asteroid mission and its two CubeSats interacted as if they were in space, within the foam pyramid-lined walls of the Agency’s Maxwell test chamber in the Netherlands. The trio communicated together, sharing data and ranging information at the same time as their Hera mothership received commands from its mission controllers at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. View the full article

ESA is getting ready to show thousands of visitors how space improves life on Earth at its very first open day to be held in the UK. View the full article

Europe’s newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6’s first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher. Read on for all about the RAMI deployer, then see who else is flying first. View the full article

Image: Drone test of planetary landing radar View the full article

Video: 00:02:54 Proba-3 is ESA’s – and the world’s – first precision formation flying mission. A pair of satellites will fly together relative to the Sun so that one casts a precisely-controlled shadow onto the other, to create a prolonged solar eclipse in orbit. In the process the mission will open up the Sun’s faint surrounding coronal atmosphere for sustained study. Normally this corona is rendered invisible by the brilliant face of the Sun, like a firefly next to a bonfire. Due for launch together this autumn, the two Proba-3 satellites will fly 144-m apart for up to six hours at a time to create these eclipses. Beside its scientific interest, this experiment will be a perfect method to demonstrate the precise positioning of the two platforms. It will be enabled using a novel combination of guidance technologies. In this video the Proba-3 team details the mission concept. Find out more here. Access the related broadcast quality video material. View the full article

A new collaboration between ESA and Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands has got passengers thinking about space. Digital screens throughout the airport featuring stunning satellite images of Earth have been stopping travellers in their tracks. That's because these pictures from space are part of a fun Where on Earth? travel quiz. View the full article

Production of Galileo Second Generation satellites advances at full speed after two independent Satellite Critical Design Review boards have confirmed that the satellite designs of the respective industries meet all mission and performance requirements. This achievement is another crucial milestone hit on time in the ambitious schedule to develop the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation fleet. View the full article

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Destination Earth is now live! Launched today during a ceremony at the EuroHPC LUMI Supercomputer Centre in Kajaani, Finland, Destination Earth provides unprecedented insights into the complexity of our planet to advance climate change adaption and environmental resilience modelling. View the full article

The ESA website is a key tool to help us communicate about our activities. We want to make sure that our website meets the needs and expectations of our audience. That's why we are launching a survey to collect your feedback and suggestions on how to improve the esa.int website. View the full article

PLAYMOBIL's little robot space explorer ROBert was reunited with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and ESA Kids mascot Paxi as they teamed up to meet young space fans at ESA's Space Days. Children had an absolute blast at ESA's Space Days, held at the PLAYMOBIL FunPark in Zirndorf, Germany from 30 May to 2 June 2024. View the full article

ESA’s ExoMars and Mars Express missions have spotted water frost for the first time near Mars’s equator, a part of the planet where it was thought impossible for frost to exist. View the full article

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Video: 00:01:51 SENER is testing the docking capabilities of the SIROM system by launching the MANTIS floating platform into an equally free-floating REACSA at ESA's Orbital Robotics Laboratory. This free-floating tests simulate the dynamics of rigid body contact and present an opportunity to gather valuable insights into the performance of SIROM in approximately 200 docking scenarios. View the full article

Week in images: 03-06 June 2024 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

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Image: ESA and Vast memorandum signature at ILA View the full article

Image: Ahead of World Ocean Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the west of Grand Bahama Island, in the Bahamas. View the full article

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Our galaxy has collided with many others in its lifetime. ESA’s Gaia space telescope now reveals that the most recent of these crashes took place billions of years later than we thought. View the full article

Following months of meticulous testing to ensure that it will deliver first-class data on air quality around the world, the new Copernicus Sentinel-5 instrument has been delivered to Airbus in France ready to be installed on the first MetOp Second Generation weather satellite. View the full article

More than 40 companies, research centres and international organisations signed the Zero Debris Charter at the Berlin International Airshow (ILA) today, confirming their dedication to the long-term sustainability of human activities in space. View the full article

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Video: 00:02:15 The 2024 edition of the Berlin International Airshow (ILA), Germany's largest aerospace trade show, opened its doors on 5 June. ESA is taking part with an exhibition in the Space Pavilion alongside the German Space Agency (DLR) and the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI). Highlights of the opening day included the visit of the German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Space Pavilion opening ceremony, and the kick-off press conference with ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. View the full article