European Space Agency

Video: 00:07:40 ESA’s Euclid mission is on a quest to unveil the nature of two elusive ‘dark’ entities. As the renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking remarked in 2013, “The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy”. During the last 70 years, scientists have made enormous progress in understanding the very initial phases of the Universe and its evolution to the present day. Thanks to advances in observations and theoretical modelling, a clear picture has emerged of how stars form, and how galaxies grow and interact with each other, coming together to form groups and clusters. Yet, fundamental mysteries remain. 95% of the Universe appears to be made up of unknown 'dark' matter and energy. Dark matter and energy affect the motion and distribution of visible sources but do not emit, reflect or absorb any light. And scientists do not know what these dark entities actually are. To address this question, Euclid will create a great map of the large-scale structure of the Universe across space and time by observing with unprecedented accuracy billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years. This is not easy, and making sure that Euclid is up to the task has required the expertise and dedication of many people over several years of work. This video captures the journey behind the Euclid mission, from a human and intensely visual perspective. It shows tiny screws, winding cables and shiny surfaces in a whole new light, revealing how each piece comes together to form the space telescope. Be drawn in by awe-inspiring photos of the cosmos, and stay for the seemingly choreographed ballet of teamwork necessary to assemble and test the spacecraft, before being swept away by the emotion of the launch into space. Euclid’s adventure has begun. With its observations during the coming years, it will help us uncover the missing link in cosmology and open the gate to the ‘dark’ side of the Universe. View the full article

Image: What’s spookier than the ‘largest acid cauldron on Earth?’ In East Java, Indonesia, lies the Kawah Ijen Crater Lake – the world’s largest acidic lake, a chilling spectacle perfect for Halloween. View the full article

Although the Crab Nebula is one of the best-studied supernova remnants, questions about its progenitor, the nature of the explosion, and the composition of its ejecta still remain unanswered. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is on the case as it sleuths for any clues that remain within the supernova remnant. Webb’s infrared sensitivity, combined with data previously collected by other telescopes, is offering astronomers a more comprehensive understanding of the still-expanding scene. View the full article

Week in images: 23-27 October 2023 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

ESA’s first-ever Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum will take place next week at ESA Headquarters in Paris from 30 to 31 October 2023. The event will see investors, institutions, entrepreneurs and companies of any size from the Earth observation sector coming together to discuss the commercial potential and challenges of Earth observation. Follow our live steaming on ESA WebTV Two. View the full article

Image: This rare, almost cloud-free view of the remote Elephant Island in Antarctica was captured in February 2023 by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article

ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency are gearing up for a momentous milestone in Earth observation as launch of the EarthCARE satellite approaches. Following years of rigorous development and extensive testing, the satellite is now undergoing its final round of tests in Europe before being shipped to the launch site early next year – bringing us one step closer to gaining unprecedented insights into the role that clouds and aerosols play in the climate system. View the full article

What do bacteria-based food production, avalanche monitoring and the mapping of Venus have in common? They can all be found among the topics of the 47 research and development activities funded by ESA's Discovery & Preparation programme between January and June 2023. View the full article

An ongoing project to develop a low-cost, reusable engine for European rockets made considerable progress over the summer and autumn, with a series of tests that achieved full ignition and, ultimately, a 30-second burn with re-ignition of an early prototype of the Prometheus engine. View the full article

With a multitude of opportunities for start-ups, established companies and investors, commercial Earth observation is a vibrant sector with fast-moving innovations in technology, datasets and downstream applications. ESA is a key driving force for the development of European Earth observation and provides impetus through its many programmes and initiatives. To set the scene ahead of ESA’s Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum next week, here is some need-to-know background information on the evolution and state of play of the Earth observation industry. View the full article

The permanent exhibition Mission Spatiale just opened its doors at the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris. Produced in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), this immersive exhibition is dedicated to space exploration and invites visitors to embark on an interactive journey structured into five steps: Explore, Travel, Transit, Stay and Questions. View the full article

We are pleased to announce the introduction of roster recruitment at ESA as a new way to launch your career with us. If you work in a field for which ESA consistently recruits in high numbers, such as system engineering, corporate controlling and product assurance, placement on a roster will open up your access to job opportunities with us. The first ESA roster recruitment position has just been published, so here is a short explainer to bring you up to speed on this new system. View the full article

Under what conditions many chemical elements are created in the Universe has long been shrouded in mystery. This includes elements that are highly valuable, or even vital to life as we know it. Astronomers are now one step closer to an answer thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope and a high-energy event: the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever detected, most likely caused by the merging of two neutron stars – which resulted in an explosion known as a kilonova. View the full article

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Video: 00:03:03 On Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October 2023, the European Space Agency opened the doors to the European Space Research and Technology Centre, ESTEC, in the Netherlands. Where science meets science fiction, the theme of this year's open day was ‘Science Fiction Gets Real’, highlighting how science fiction has inspired scientists and engineers to join ESA, and turn once imaginary concepts into science fact. The single largest ESA establishment invited the public to meet astronauts, view spacecraft, and peer behind the scenes of Europe’s space adventure, along with a full schedule of events and talks from Space Rocks, celebrating the art and culture of science and space. View the full article

When astronauts return to the Moon, they will take more pictures of the lunar surface than any humans before. To develop the best camera for the job, European astronauts and scientists are lending a helping hand to NASA’s Artemis imagery team. View the full article

The second European Service Module was connected to the rest of the Orion spacecraft which will be used in the Artemis II mission that will bring astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time in over 50 years. View the full article

Launching things into space is hard. Aside from the engines and software, orbital calculations and the launch pad, the tanks that hold the fuel are a masterful example of engineering in their own right – and ESA will soon be testing the next generation of rocket tanks: Phoebus. View the full article

Video: 00:04:41 At some point, statistically speaking, a large asteroid will impact Earth. Whether that’s tomorrow, in ten years, or a problem for our ancestors, ESA is getting prepared. As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, ESA’s Hera mission will perform a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos – the 160-metre asteroid struck, and successfully deflected, by NASA’s DART spacecraft. Hera will soon study the aftermath. Launching in October 2024, Hera will turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and hopefully repeatable planetary defence technique. But before Hera and its two CubeSats fly, they’re rigorously tested at ESA’s ESTEC test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. From the force and noise of the rocket take-off to the sustained vacuum and temperature extremes of deep space, all aspects of Hera’s functioning are checked before they begin their journey, alone in space. View the full article

Week in images: 16-20 October 2023 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Image: Like shining jewels in the water, ships passing through the Panama Canal, which cuts across Central America, have been captured in this Copernicus Sentinel-1 image. View the full article

Video: 01:00:00 ESA Member States met for the 317th session of the ESA Council on 18 and 19 October. Watch the replay of the media briefing in which ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Council Chair Renato Krpoun share the outcome of the meeting. They give an update to media on plans for ESA to cooperate with the UN’s Environment Programme on the use of Earth observation data and technology for the environment, as well as providing assistance to Poland for its national Earth observation project. They also share the latest plans for a Space Summit to be held on 6 and 7 November in Seville, Spain. View the full article

Image: The scene was set: a research base on the Red Planet was struck by a cyberattack and eight teams on Earth had just a matter of hours to save it. Far from being a farfetched scenario, cyberattacks are unfortunately a daily problem for all sectors, including space exploration, and can have devastating consequences. The ‘Pwn The Rover’ hacking contest was held on 17 October at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, in collaboration with Fraunhofer SIT and ATHENE-Center. Its goal was to bring together, educate and inspire younger generations in the realm of cybersecurity. The hackathon was challenging, really pushing teams in a mix of time-limited and tricky but plausible scenarios; Managing their ‘ExoMy’ rover and defending its systems from other teams' attacks, Attacking competing rovers in order to exploit them, Driving their rover through a mock-up of an abandoned Mars base Unlocking and solving Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges – where strings of code, called ‘flags’, are secretly hidden in purposefully-vulnerable programs or websites. Congratulations to the winning team, “SPAAAAAACE”, from Warsaw University of Technology and University of Potsdam, with an impressive 2000 points! And special mentions also to the runners-up, who came in close behind: pwnthem0le, from Politecnico di Torino, with 1950 points and ENOFLAG, from Technische Universität Berlin and Universität Paderborn, scoring 1800. “Each of the activities were intertwined in some way, so teams couldn’t complete one without giving some attention to the other parts of the contest,” explains Dominic Marszk, Engineer at ESA who co-organised the contest. “This required teams to excel and organise themselves across a much wider than usual area of expertise. The winning teams managed to evolve and apply different tactics throughout the event which resulted in a very fierce competition.” With thanks to all the very impressive teams who participated and everyone who applied for Pwn The Rover 2023: with activities like this and the enthusiasm of all involved, our future in space is looking secure. Stay tuned to @esaoperations on X and LinkedIn for information on the next Hackathon. View the full article

ESA’s navigation testbed vehicle participated in a campaign organised by Norwegian governmental authorities to assess the impact of jamming and spoofing on satnav systems and test innovative technologies for detection and mitigation. View the full article

Week in images: 09-13 October 2023 Discover our week through the lens View the full article