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ESA statement regarding cooperation with Russia following a meeting with Member States on 28 February 2022
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By European Space Agency
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.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
A behind-the-scenes look at the annual Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
Members of the Mars 2020 Science Team examine post-impact sediments within the Gardnos impact structure, northwest of Oslo, Norway, as part of the June 2025 Science Team Meeting. NASA/Katie Stack Morgan Written by Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 Acting Project Scientist
The Mars 2020 Science Team gathered for a week in June to discuss recent science results, synthesize earlier mission observations, and discuss future plans for continued exploration of Jezero’s crater rim. It was also an opportunity to celebrate what makes this mission so special: one of the most capable and sophisticated science missions ever sent to Mars, an experienced and expert Science Team, and the rover’s many science accomplishments this past year.
We kicked off the meeting, which was hosted by our colleagues on the RIMFAX team at the University of Oslo, with a focus on our most recent discoveries on the Jezero crater rim. A highlight was the team’s in-depth discussion of spherules observed at Witch Hazel Hill, features which likely provide us the best chance of determining the origin of the crater rim rock sequence.
On the second day, we heard status updates from each of the science instrument teams. We then transitioned to a session devoted to “traverse-scale” syntheses. After 4.5 years of Perseverance on Mars and more than 37 kilometers of driving (more than 23 miles), we’re now able to analyze and integrate science datasets across the entire surface mission, looking for trends through space and time within the Jezero rock record. Our team also held a poster session, which was a great opportunity for in-person and informal scientific discussion.
The team’s modern atmospheric and environmental investigations were front and center on Day 3. We then rewound the clock, hearing new and updated analyses of data acquired during Perseverance’s earlier campaigns in Jezero’s Margin unit, crater floor, and western fan. The last day of the meeting was focused entirely on future plans for the Perseverance rover, including a discussion of our exploration and sampling strategy during the Crater Rim Campaign. We also looked further afield, considering where the rover might explore over the next few years.
Following the meeting, the Science Team took a one-day field trip to visit Gardnos crater, a heavily eroded impact crater with excellent examples of impact melt breccia and post-impact sediment fill. The team’s visit to Gardnos offered a unique opportunity to see and study impact-generated rock units like those expected on the Jezero crater rim and to discuss the challenges we have recognizing similar units with the rover on Mars. Recapping our Perseverance team meetings has been one of my favorite yearly traditions (see summaries from our 2022, 2023, and 2024 meetings) and I look forward to reporting back a year from now. As the Perseverance team tackles challenges in the year to come, we can seek inspiration from one of Norway’s greatest polar explorers, Fridtjof Nansen, who said while delivering his Nobel lecture, “The difficult is that which can be done at once; the impossible is that which takes a little longer.”
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By European Space Agency
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.
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By European Space Agency
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 the way in developing new propulsion systems to power the European launchers of the future. In collaboration with industry, ESA is supporting the development of new technologies to be used on rocket, boosters, upper stages, landers and spacecraft.
Initiaves like Boosters for European Space Transportation (BEST!), Technologies for High-thrust Re-Usable Space Transportation (THRUST!) and Future Innovation and Research in Space Transporation programme (FIRST!), are advancing key technologies for reusable boosters, engines and other innovations crucial for the future of space exploration. ESA's Space Rider is a reusable spacecraft and robotic laboratory, designed to stay in low Earth-orbit for two months and return payloads to Earth. Themis is a prototype for testing reusable rocket technologies, including vertical takeoff, landing and reuse, powered by the Prometheus engine.
The future of space transport extends beyond Earth launches, with in-orbit operations, transportation systems to support satellite servicing, orbital refuelling, and payload transfers between orbits.
To support all of this, ESA is upgrading its ground support and Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, to accommodate more launches.
Through programmes like ‘Boost!’ ESA is empowering the European Space Industry, supporting innovative companies which are creating new launch services. The European Launcher Challenge is shaping a competitive European launch sector for the future, strengthening Europe's autonomous access to space.
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By European Space Agency
ESA Delivers: 50 years booklet
50 hallmark achievements across 50 years
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