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The Nissan Navara ‘Dark Sky’ concept vehicle features a bespoke off-road trailer allowing a high-powered telescope to be safely transported to remote ‘dark-sky’ locations.
Visit our website to learn more about the Nissan Navara 'Dark Sky'
Credits: Nissan
The first satnav receiver designed to operate in lunar orbit has been delivered to satellite maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK for integration aboard the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft.
The complete Navigation payload seen here includes a four helix antenna (left, in the glass box) developed by MDA in Canada, plus the NaviMoon satnav receiver (middle, on table) from Swiss company SpacePNT, and the low noise amplifier developed by EECL in the UK, who also undertook the manufacturing and the environmental test campaign for both the satnav receiver and amplifier.
The payload is designed to boost and process faint terrestrial Global Navigation Satellite Signal (GNSS) signals from more than 400 000 km away, harnessing advanced processing and navigation algorithms to fix the spacecraft’s position, velocity and timing in lunar orbit in real time. It is complemented by a lunar Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) (right), developed by NASA under agreement with ESA, composed of 48 mirrored retro-reflectors that will enable centimetre-scale laser ranging of the spacecraft as it orbits the Moon, to authenticate the satnav receiver position fixes during the experiment.
Due to be launched in late 2025, SSTL’s Lunar Pathfinder mission will serve as a telecommunications relay satellite for future missions to the Moon, to serve assets on both the nearside and farside, orbiting in an ‘elliptical lunar frozen orbit’ for prolonged coverage over the South Pole – a particular focus for future exploration. ESA is Lunar Pathfinder’s anchor customer, while NASA will also make use of its services in exchange for delivering Lunar Pathfinder to lunar orbit through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative aboard the CS-3 Firefly Blue Ghost 2 mission.
Lily Forward, SSTL systems engineer and Spacecraft Lead for Lunar Pathfinder, comments: “SSTL is thoroughly looking forward to not only being part of this historic joint venture between ESA and NASA but also being part of the first CLPS task order to fund the transfer of both a landing and orbital asset to the Moon.”
Cyril Botteron, CEO and Co-founder of SpacePNT, says: “This will be for the team the culmination of a long development that we started nearly 10 years ago at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), with the development of a first proof of concept prototype of a super high sensitivity GNSS receiver suitable for Moon missions.”
Michele Scotti, Technical Manager at SpacePNT, adds: “This achievement stems from the hard work and dedication of the whole team. It is immensely rewarding to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pioneer autonomous lunar navigation with our NaviMoon receiver.”
Success would mean future Moon missions could effectively navigate in cislunar environment– fixing autonomously and in real-time their position, using GNSS, with an accuracy better than 100 m, while foregoing the use of costly ground infrastructure.
“This may become a practical way for lunar missions to autonomously determine their own orbits, and also to perform time reference transfers between Earth and the Moon,” explains Javier Ventura-Traveset, Moonlight NAV manager leading ESA’s Navigation Science Office and coordinating all ESA lunar navigation activities.
“To validate the satnav results, the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft will also perform concurrent X-band radio and laser ranging during the GNSS experiment windows. This will allow to test and combine three ranging technologies at once – GNSS, radio and laser ranging – which has never before been performed from lunar orbit.”
Pietro Giordano, Radio Navigation System Engineer and technical officer in charge of the receiver notes that “by demonstrating critical technologies required for precise lunar navigation, our Navigation Experiment Payload has the potential to revolutionize the way satellites are operated in cislunar space”.
A successful formal Delivery Review Board held this week confirmed the payload is ready to be embarked on Lunar Pathfinder.
Credits: SSTL
ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite has launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).
In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their carbon.
Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.
Credits: ESA - S.Corvaja
The first metal 3D part ever created on orbit has landed on Earth.
The sample was produced in ESA’s Metal 3D Printer on the International Space Station. Now, it’s on Earth for the first time, at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands (ESTEC).
The printer, developed by Airbus and its partners, was installed in the Columbus module by ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen during his Huginn mission in January 2024. In June, the facility succeeding in making its first print, a curvy line in the shape of an 'S’. In summer, the printer produced its first full sample, and then a second sample in December.
This first sample will now be tested in the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory at ESTEC and compared to samples printed on Earth to understand how microgravity affects the printing process.
The second sample will be handed over to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
While astronauts have operated plastic 3D printers on the International Space Station before, this marks the first successful metal printing on orbit. As missions venture farther from Earth, in-space manufacturing will be crucial for self-sufficiency, allowing astronauts to manufacture essential parts, repair equipment and create tools on demand, without relying on costly resupply missions.
Credits: ESA-R. Moorkens O'Reilly
Part of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia is featured in this image, captured by the Φsat-2 mission in June 2025.
Covering an area of over 150 000 sq km, the desert consists of gravel terrains covered by desert grasses, as well as red sandy plains and dune fields. As we can also see in the image, the typical soil surface colours range from reddish brown to red, owing to the iron-rich sediments. Additionally, the dry climate and weather trigger soil oxidation, giving the landscape its distinctive warm colours.
Parallel sand dune ridges are a defining characteristic of the area and can be seen spreading across the image. These are shaped by the wind and can stretch for tens of km.
The largest blue feature visible in the lower part of the image is a dry lakebed, where the Fortescue River empties. In this region, rivers are mainly ephemeral, which means that they remain dry for most of the year and flow only temporarily and briefly, usually in direct response to precipitation. The Fortescue River is dry in this image because no significant rain fell during the days before the acquisition.
Inland drainage is typical of most of Western Australia, and the great majority of the lakes here are saline dried-up lakebeds, rather than freshwater bodies. The partially white body of water seen at the top is part of the Fortescue Marsh wetlands rather than a classic permanent lake. The white colour within the lake is due to the presence of sediments in the water.
The Fortescue Marsh is a vast seasonal floodplain with lakes, marshes, and pools that act as a natural water retention basin during and after rains. It is nationally recognised as a wetland of importance and supports diverse flora and fauna that has adapted to the arid and ephemeral river environment.
Launched in August 2024, Φsat-2 is a miniature satellite – a cubesat – designed to demonstrate how different Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can advance observing Earth from space.
Credits: ESA
The Vega-C Payload Assembly Composite (PAC) with LARES-2 has been rolled out to the Vega Launch Zone (ZLV) and hoisted onto the Vega-C launch Vehicle on 7 July 2022 at Europe's Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana.
On the wave of Vega’s success, Member States at the ESA Ministerial meeting in December 2014 agreed to develop the more powerful Vega-C to respond to an evolving market and to long-term institutional needs.
Vega-C increases performance from Vega’s current 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit, covering identified European institutional users’ mission needs, with no increase in launch service and operating costs.
The participating states in this development are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Credits: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut
ESA's deep space tracking station in Malargüe, Argentina, receives signals from a distant spacecraft on a cold winter day in the southern hemisphere.
Credits: ESA / Filippo Concaro
This U.S. science fiction magazine was published by Republic Features Syndicate, Inc. as part of a package of radio shows and related genre magazines. It was edited by Michael Avallone, though the masthead listed Lyle Kenyon Engel as editor instead. Two issues appeared, both in 1957. -- Wikipedia
ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan points at a lunar-like landscape with a camera designed to take pictures on the surface of the Moon during the Artemis missions.
The seventh edition of the PANGAEA geology course trained her, ESA astronaut reserve member Arnaud Prost and Norishige Kanai from the Japanese space agency JAXA to be effective field explorers and act as the eyes of scientists in unique places in Europe.
When it comes to discovering new places, pictures play an important role. A camera set to capture amazing Moon images for humankind became part of the astronauts’ toolkit during the last week of the training in Lanzarote, Spain.
Rosemary was part of an international team of astronauts, engineers and scientists testing the Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) to improve its design for handheld use on the lunar surface.
During the Apollo programme, cameras didn’t have viewfinders, so astronauts were trained to aim the camera from the chest, where it was attached to the front of the spacesuit. In contrast, the Artemis camera’s buttons are rearranged for easier handling by astronauts wearing thick gloves during moonwalks. The Moon model is equipped with a thermal blanket that protects it from abrasive lunar dust and extreme temperatures.
HULC promises to provide sharp images in low light during Artemis III, a mission set to land on the South Pole of the Moon, close to permanently shadowed craters. Some of Europe’s best planetary scientists participating in PANGAEA were excited about the great amount of detail captured by the camera from a distance, both in shadowed and highly illuminated areas.
Rosemary had the chance to handle the camera during an imagery meeting with NASA in Europe in 2023. Now, she has tested the camera’s performance in realistic scenarios for geological exploration.
“This training is teaching us how to take the right samples, make the right descriptions, and take the right photos, so the scientists have everything they need,” she says.
One novelty was the use of a 200 mm telephoto lens that would allow crews to take images of distant objects and guide decisions about where to explore first during time-limited moonwalks.
For more Moon-like shots, check ESA's PANGAEA gallery with Artemis camera tests in Lanzarote, Spain.
Credits: ESA – A. Romeo
Editor's note: Somtimes we get a great image from the science experiments aboard the International Space Station. This one really catches the eye!
Flames, like the one pictured here from FLEX, burn more perfectly in microgravity, helping researchers get a better understanding of the nature of combustion in space and on Earth.
Aboard the International Space Station, the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) has been activated to perform chamber preparation work for the Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) investigation. The rack includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for doing combustion experiments in space. FLEX will assess the effectiveness of fire suppressants in microgravity and quantify the effect of different possible crew exploration atmospheres on fire suppression. The goal of this research is to provide definition and direction for large-scale fire suppression tests and selection of the fire suppressant for next generation crew exploration vehicles. On Earth, FLEX will help us understand how to better deal with combustion generated pollution, and address fire hazards associated with using liquid combustibles.
Image credit: NASA
Read more:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/wklysumm...
More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
NASA Earth Images, a Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05
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These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Spain is suffering its worst flood in decades after torrential rains struck the eastern province of Valencia. The death toll is climbing and people remain missing.
In response, the Copernicus Emergency Rapid Mapping Service has been activated to provide satellite imagery that can support rescue and recovery efforts.
According to Spain’s national weather agency, Aemet, on 29 October 2024, Valencia received a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours. This deluge caused devastating flash floods, turning streets into rivers, destroying homes, and sweeping away vehicles.
These images from the US Landsat-8 satellite vividly illustrate the scale of the disaster, with images from 8 October and 30 October showing the dramatic transformation of the landscape.
Credits: USGS, processed by ESA
Gravity affects everything we do on Earth but we know surprisingly little about how it works and how it affects life. Until recently scientists had no way of experimenting without gravity to understand what life would be like without it.
Research in space or with facilities on Earth that recreate aspects of space bring knowledge, discoveries and improvements to our daily life and further our exploration of the Solar System.
ESA offers many platforms for conducting experiments across the whole spectrum of scientific disciplines. You can run an experiment in a sounding rocket, drop towers, centrifuges, Antarctica and even the International Space Station.
From the moment an experiment is let go at the top of a drop tower until it hits the padded ground beneath, the experiment is free of the influences of gravity. These short bouts of microgravity are open to scientists from all over the world and offer an economical alternative to spaceflight that can be used at any time of the year.
Proposals for experiments are always welcome and can be submitted via the research announcement page
Credits: ESA
Rollout of Galileo L14 Ariane 6 A62 flight VA266 at the Ariane 6 launch complex (ELA-4) at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on 16 December 2025.
Credits: ESA - M. Pédoussaut
Two Galileo navigation satellites inside the protective ‘nose cone’ of Ariane 6 (known as the fairing) hoisted to the top of the Ariane 6 rocket that will take them to space, on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, 11 December 2025.
The fairing plays a crucial role as it shields the satellites from the elements and maintains a stable temperature and humidity. It also provides the aerodynamic shape Ariane 6 needs to pierce through Earth’s atmosphere as it thunders toward space.
The fairing separates during launch, allowing the satellites to begin their journey to medium Earth orbit, 23 222 km above Earth, ready to deliver precise navigation services to billions of users worldwide.
Credits: ESA - M. Pédoussaut
Debris in orbit varies from millions of millimetre-sized particles to thousands of much larger objects like defunct satellites and rocket parts. As such the damage debris can cause varies from a gradual degradation of satellite parts over time to immediate and total destruction.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has experienced decades of constant, minor bombardment from small debris objects, but collisions between entire satellites have also taken place, creating thousands of debris fragments.
Debris objects travel at about 10 km/s, meaning a collision with just 1cm fragment can create the same amount of energy as a small car crashing at 40 km/h!
Find out more about the damage done by debris in the joint ESA-UN podcast that narrates this infographic.
Credits: ESA / UNOOSA
ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano in the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow, Russia, 19 June 2019 wearing the Sokol suit he will wear when he is launched to the International Space Station. Sokol suits, tailored to each astronaut, are worn in the Soyuz spacecraft as protection against air leaks.
Luca is training for his Beyond mission which will see him return to the International Space Station in 2019 as part of Expedition 60/61, alongside NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.
Luca was the first of ESA’s 2009 astronaut class to fly to the International Space Station. His first mission Volare, meaning 'to fly' in Italian, took place in 2013 and lasted 166 days. Luca conducted two spacewalks and many experiments that are still running today.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
Axiom Mission 4 Walkout and departure to launch pad 39A with ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski on 25 June 2025 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski launches to the International Space Station on his first spaceflight as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The mission lifts off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from launchpad 39A at 02:31 EDT (07:31 BST / 08:31 CEST).
The Ax-4 crew includes Peggy Whitson (USA, commander), Shubhanshu Shukla (India, pilot), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary, mission specialist), alongside Sławosz, who also serves as a mission specialist. 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—dubbed Ignis—features a robust programme of science and technology experiments developed by ESA and the Polish space sector.
Sławosz, selected as a reserve ESA astronaut in 2022 and appointed as a project astronaut in September 2023, has trained at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, in preparation for this commercial spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space.
Follow Sławosz’s journey on the Ignis website, check our launch kit and connect with him on his Instagram and X accounts.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
An artist's impression of the lunar outpost called the Gateway. The Gateway is the next structure to be launched by the partners of the International Space Station.
During the 2020s, it will be assembled and operated in the vicinity of the Moon, where it will move between different orbits and enable the most distant human space missions ever attempted.
Placed farther from Earth than the current Space Station – but not in a lunar orbit – the Gateway will offer a staging post for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Like a mountain refuge, it will provide shelter and a place to stock up on supplies for astronauts en route to more distant destinations. It will also offer a place to relay communications and can act as a base for scientific research.
The Gateway will weigh around 40 tonnes and will consist of a service module, a communications module, a connecting module, an airlock for spacewalks, a place for the astronauts to live and an operations station to command the Gateway’s robotic arm or rovers on the Moon. Astronauts will be able to occupy it for up to 90 days at a time.
A staging outpost near the Moon offers many advantages for space agencies. Most current rockets do not have the power to reach our satellite in one go but could reach the space Gateway. Europe’s Ariane would be able to deliver supplies for astronauts to collect and use for further missions deeper into space – much like mountain expeditions can stock up refuges with food and equipment for further climbs to the summit.
The Gateway also allows space agencies to test technologies such as electric propulsion where Earth’s gravity would interfere if done closer to home. New opportunities for space research away from Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere are planned for the outpost. Its close position will provide rapid response times for astronauts controlling rovers on the Moon.
Credits: ESA/NASA/ATG Medialab
The James Webb Space Telescope arrived safely at Pariacabo harbour in French Guiana on 12 October 2021 ahead of its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport.
Few space science missions have been as eagerly anticipated as the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). As the next great space science observatory following Hubble, Webb is designed to resolve unanswered questions about the Universe and see farther into our origins: from the formation of stars and planets to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. Webb will be the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space.
Webb arrived from California on board the MN Colibri which sailed the Panama Canal to French Guiana on a 16-day voyage. The shallow Kourou river was specially dredged to ensure a clear passage and the vessel followed high tide to safely reach port.
Though the telescope weighs only six tonnes, it is more than 10.5 m high and almost 4.5 m wide when folded. It was shipped in its folded position in a 30 m long container which, with auxiliary equipment, weighs more than 70 tonnes. This is such an exceptional mission that a heavy-load tractor unit was brought on board MN Colibri to carefully transport Webb to the Spaceport.
Webb was taken to a dedicated spacecraft preparation facility. Here it will be unpacked and examined to ensure that it is undamaged from its voyage and in good working order.
As part of an international collaboration agreement, ESA is providing the telescope’s launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace.
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG - JM Guillon
Two Galileo navigation satellites inside the protective ‘nose cone’ of Ariane 6 (known as the fairing) hoisted to the top of the Ariane 6 rocket that will take them to space, on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, 11 December 2025.
The fairing plays a crucial role as it shields the satellites from the elements and maintains a stable temperature and humidity. It also provides the aerodynamic shape Ariane 6 needs to pierce through Earth’s atmosphere as it thunders toward space.
The fairing separates during launch, allowing the satellites to begin their journey to medium Earth orbit, 23 222 km above Earth, ready to deliver precise navigation services to billions of users worldwide.
Credits: ESA - M. Pédoussaut
ESA’s 35-metre antenna in Australia has now been powered by the Sun for over a year, cutting costs and reducing carbon emissions by 330 tonnes - equivalent to 1.9 million km driven by car.
The solar plant at the New Norcia station in Western Australia started its first full month catching solar rays in August 2017. One year later, it had produced 470 Megawatt-hours of power – enough to supply 120 four-person homes for a year, fuelling 34% of the total electricity consumption of the station.
In order for the tracking station to be powered 100% by renewable energy, more panels would be required. Other sources of energy could also be used such as kite power, hydrogen or geothermal energy.
“I am really happy with these results – they reach beyond our initial expectations when we began the solar-power upgrade and I would be thrilled to see the same development spread to our other ground stations,” explains Marc Roubert, ESA's ground stations maintenance engineer.
With this success, ESA engineers will investigate possible similar upgrades for other stations.
Ultimately, Marc says, it would be a real achievement to get all ESA ground stations in the Estrack network completely off the mains power grid. This way, they can continue to track and communicate with satellites orbiting Earth and in deep space, while reducing the carbon footprint of the Agency’s giant 'eyes on the skies'.
Credits: ESA/D. O'Donnell, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
The name of European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer’s first mission to the International Space Station, Cosmic Kiss, is a declaration of love for space. It communicates the special connection the Station provides between Earth’s inhabitants and the cosmos. It also conveys the value of partnership in exploring farther to the Moon and Mars, alongside the need to respect, protect and preserve the nature of our home planet as we seek a sustainable future on Earth.
The Cosmic Kiss patch takes inspiration from the Nebra sky disc (“Himmelsscheibe von Nebra”) – the oldest known realistic illustration of the night sky – as well as the Pioneer plaques and Voyager Golden Records that were sent into the unknown carrying messages from Earth.
These artefacts show a fascination with space that spans the ages. Since the beginning of time, humans have looked skyward for knowledge about the origins of life, the Universe and our place in the cosmos. The Cosmic Kiss mission builds on the curiosity of all those who came before us, as exploration advances our understanding of Earth, our Solar System and life itself.
Like the Nebra sky disc, the patch features several cosmic elements including Earth, the Moon and the Pleiades star cluster. It also depicts Mars, one of ESA’s three key destinations for exploration over the next 10 years, as a small red dot beckoning in the distance.
Earth is shown borderless and backlit, with only a delicate line of atmosphere visible. This phenomenon is often described by space travellers, who marvel at the wonder of all human life and events taking place in one thin and precious layer.
The most prominent feature is a simplified, almost heart-like International Space Station. This is connected through a human heartbeat that stretches from Earth to the Moon. This heartbeat symbolises the human presence and passion that propels exploration forward and connects us to the Universe, as well as the vital life science experiments the Space Station enables.
As a unique oasis in space, the International Space Station is a hub of science, research and operations like no other. The continuous human presence that it supports beyond our Earth leads to greater knowledge, technological advances and a better understanding of fundamental and applied sciences. The Space Station is a lifeline for Earth’s future and paves the way for our next steps into space as we go forward to the Moon and Mars. It is the Cosmic Kiss that unites us and brings light to the unknown.
The Cosmic Kiss mission patch features black, red, gold and white. Each colour has been selected for its significance:
● Black – represents the Universe and its mysteries that we seek to understand.
● Red – stands for love and passion. It represents our human presence today and the martian soils that await us as we explore farther into the Solar System.
● Gold – is the colour of the stars that share their warmth and light to enable life.
● White – is the heartbeat that flashes in the atmosphere. It stands for technology and scientific progress, bringing light into the dark.
Credits: ESA
The Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana now hosts the first example of ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket. This Ariane 6 combined tests model will be used to validate the entire launch system during its ground phase in readiness for the inaugural launch of Ariane 6.
The combined tests include filling tanks, and draining them in case of launch abort, count-down automated sequence, and cryogenic arms disconnection and retraction at a simulated liftoff.
These tests will be carried out under ESA’s authority by an integrated team from ESA, ArianeGroup and French space agency CNES.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model is highly representative of the flight model. It consists of the core stage and the upper stage, which make up the central core, as well as three pylons shaped like the rocket’s solid boosters and a fully representative but inert mockup of the fourth booster.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model central core was precisely mated in the purpose-built launcher assembly building, where this task is carried out horizontally. Automated guidance vehicles then brought the assembled core to the launch and, working with the crane at the mobile gantry, raised it to its vertical position.
Ariane 6 is a modular launch vehicle using either two or four P120C strap-on boosters, depending on mission requirements. The P120C engine does double duty, also serving as the first stage of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket.
The reignitable Vinci engine which powers the upper stage allows Ariane 6 to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits on a single launch. After payload separation a final engine burn deorbits the upper stage so that it does not become a debris threat in space.
Ariane 6 development is project-managed and funded by ESA, which also acts as launch system architect. ArianeGroup is design authority and industrial prime contractor for the launcher system and CNES is prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace is the launch service provider of Ariane 6.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
Two Galileo satellites being placed inside the protective ‘nose cone’ of Ariane 6 (known as the fairing) at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The fairing plays a crucial role as it shields the satellites from the elements and maintains a stable temperature and humidity. It also provides the aerodynamic shape Ariane 6 needs to pierce through Earth’s atmosphere as it thunders toward space.
The fairing separates during launch, allowing the satellites to begin their journey to medium Earth orbit, 23 222 km above Earth, ready to deliver precise navigation services to billions of users worldwide.
Credits: ESA - M. Pédoussaut
Check our accessible text here.
Image description: Astronaut on the Moon connects with Earth by radio, a laser beams from a lunar experiment to the Earth.
It takes on average 1.27 seconds for a radio signal to travel from Moon to Earth. To talk to somebody on the Moon you would have to wait at least 2.54 seconds for a reply.
Lasers are now used to communicate with spacecraft and measure the distance to the Moon using reflectors left on the lunar surface.
The European Space Agency has a partnership to develop commercial lunar communications for spacecraft and astronauts.
#ForwardToTheMoon
Credits: ESA
Installation of connections and harness for the radio frequency link system that will allow communication with the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft while in the thermal chamber, and to test the communications system during thermal-vacuum test. The spacecraft will spend several weeks inside the Large Space Simulator at ESTEC under vacuum, experiencing a range of extreme temperatures to prepare for its journey in space.
Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant exoplanets now known to orbit other stars.
Credits: ESA / SJM Photography
Two titanium plaques etched with thousands of miniaturised drawings made by children have been fixed to the CHaracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite, Cheops. Each plaque measures nearly 18 cm across and 24 cm high.
The plaques, prepared by a team at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf, Switzerland, were unveiled in a dedicated ceremony at RUAG on 27 August 2018.
Credits: G. Bucher – Bern University of Applied Sciences
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 20 July 2019 alongside NASA astronaut Drew Morgan and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.
The trio travelled to the Station in a Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft and will spend more than six months living and working in orbit.
Beyond is Luca’s second space mission – his first was Volare in 2013. During the second part of this mission, known as Expedition 61, Luca will become the third European and first Italian commander of the International Space Station.
The most recent European commander was ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst during his Horizons mission in 2018. The first was ESA astronaut Frank De Winne during his OasISS mission in 2009.
During Beyond, Luca will support over 50 European experiments and more than 200 International experiments in microgravity. A number of these experiments, such as Grip and Grasp, are continuations from previous missions.
New experiments include BioRock, an experiment looking at the potential of microbes in extracting minerals from rocks on other planets, and NutrISS, which looks at the best strategies for monitoring and controlling changes in energy balance, metabolism and body composition during spaceflight.
Follow Luca's mission Beyond mission here and visit the blog for regular updates.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
In the blockhouse at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, the countdown proceeds for the firing of the first rocket of Project Vanguard carrying an artificial satellite. By the end of the International Geophysical Year in 1958, “the United States expects to fire at least half a dozen satellite-carrying rockets of the Vanguard type.” [Summarizing and Quoting from the text]
On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. On January 31, 1958, a US Army Jupiter-C rocket launched Explorer I, the first American satellite into Earth orbit.
ESA’s Young Professionals Satellite, YPSat, has been fully integrated for the first time, in preparation for its ‘electromagnetic compatibility’ testing seen here. This checks that all the systems aboard the compact payload can operate together without interfering either with each other or the launcher carrying it.
YPSat is a project run in its entirety by ESA Young Professionals to give them direct early experience in designing, building and testing hardware for space. YPSat’s goal is to capture all the key phases of Ariane 6's inaugural flight.
The project’s latest testing took place at ESA’s EMC Laboratory, part of a suite of technical labs focused on every aspect of the space environment at the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands.
“It’s amazing to see the hard work of the team finally come together in its flight configuration for the mandatory tests before the integration on Ariane 6,” comments Julien Krompholtz, YPSat’s current project manager. He will be replaced in the new year – knowledge transfer being a central part of the project as entry-level participants move on.
Julien adds: “I’m very proud to be part of such a fun project and amazing team. Beyond the excitement of seeing YPSat fully assembled, there's the awesome feeling as every part gets tested and smoothly comes to life.”
The payload still needs to undergo cleaning before flight, so will be dissembled again before final assembly – and its screws fully ‘torqued’ – before it is scheduled to be handed over to launch provider Arianespace next spring.
Follow the YPSat team's latest updates on their LinkedIn account.
Credits: ESA-J. Krompholtz
This selection of images of external galaxies illustrates three encounter scenarios between our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. In the top left panel, a wide-field DSS image showing galaxies M81 and M82 serves as an example of the Milky Way and Andromeda passing each other at large distances. The top right panel shows NGC 6786, a pair of interacting galaxies displaying the telltale signs of tidal disturbances after a close encounter. The bottom panel shows NGC 520, a cosmic train wreck as two galaxies are actively merging together.
[Image description: A three-panel image, two at the top and one stretched across the bottom. At top left, two spiral galaxies are widely separated against the black background of space. At top right, two face-on spiral galaxies are close together. Their spiral arms appear stretched toward each other. At bottom, two spiral galaxies have collided, resulting in a broad X-shaped patch of milky white. Mottled clouds of dark brown dust are superimposed.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, Till Sawala (University of Helsinki), DSS, J. DePasquale (STScI); CC BY 4.0
The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission captured its first glimpse of Venus on 14 October 2020 as the spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist manoeuvre a day later.
The image was taken at 07:25 UTC within 600 000 km of Venus. The image was taken by the Mercury Transfer Module’s Monitoring Camera 3. The cameras provide black-and-white snapshots in 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution.
Venus appears towards the left, close to the spacecraft structure. The high-gain antenna of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter is also visible a the top of the view.
The manoeuvre, the first at Venus and the second of nine flybys overall, helped steer the spacecraft on course for Mercury. During its seven-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury to brake against the gravitational pull of the Sun in order to enter orbit around Mercury. BepiColombo, which comprises ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is scheduled to reach its target orbit around the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System in 2025.
Credits: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Carmen Possnig was selected as a member of the ESA Astronaut Reserve in November 2022. She began her Astronaut Reserve training at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) near Cologne, Germany, on 13 January 2025. The programme covers selected modules of ESA’s one-year basic training typically completed by career astronauts, equipping members of ESA’s Astronaut Reserve with the skills needed to support Europe’s future space exploration and scientific research. Training includes technical and operational skills, biology and radiation lessons, training in human behaviour and performance, winter survival exercises and initial spacewalk training familiarisation.
Credits: ESA - A. Conigli
The Cheops satellite being fuelled with hydrazine at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 23 November. A highly specialised team of fuellers is at work, protected by special suites. Fuelling is controlled via a dedicated set-up which allows to control accurately the quantity of propellant loaded in the satellite tank.
Scheduled for launch on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket on 17 December, Cheops is ESA’s first mission dedicated to the study of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets. It will observe bright stars that are already known to host planets, measuring minuscule brightness changes due to the planet’s transit across the star’s disc.
Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG/P Baudon
For the first time, astronomers have identified a still-forming galaxy that weighs about the same as our Milky Way if we could wind back the clock to see our galaxy as it developed. The newly identified galaxy, the Firefly Sparkle, is in the process of assembling and forming stars, and existed about 600 million years after the Big Bang.
The image of the galaxy is stretched and warped by a natural effect known as gravitational lensing, which allowed researchers to glean far more information about its contents. (In some areas of Webb’s image, the galaxy is magnified over 40 times.)
While it took shape, the galaxy gleamed with star clusters in a range of infrared colours, which are scientifically meaningful. They indicate that the stars formed at different periods, not all at once.
Since the galaxy image is stretched into a long line in Webb’s observations, researchers were able to identify 10 distinct star clusters and study them individually, along with the cocoon of diffuse light from the additional, unresolved stars surrounding them. That’s not always possible for distant galaxies that aren’t lensed. Instead, in many cases researchers can only draw conclusions that apply to an entire galaxy. “Most of the other galaxies Webb has shown us aren’t magnified or stretched and we are not able to see the ‘building blocks’ separately. With Firefly Sparkle, we are witnessing a galaxy being assembled brick by brick,” explains astronomer Lamiya Mowla, assistant professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
There are two companion galaxies 'hovering' close by, which may ultimately affect how this galaxy forms and builds mass over billions of years. Firefly Sparkle is only about 6500 light-years away from its first companion, and 42 000 light-years from its second companion. Let’s compare these figures to objects that are closer to home: the Sun is about 26 000 light-years from the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, and the Milky Way measures about 100 000 light-years across. Not only are Firefly Sparkle’s companions very close, the researchers also suspect that they are orbiting one another.
[Image description: Horizontal split down the middle. At left, thousands of overlapping objects at various distances are spread across this galaxy cluster. A box at bottom right is enlarged on the right half. A central oval identifies the Firefly Sparkle galaxy, a line with 10 dots in various colours.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, C. Willott (NRC-Canada), L. Mowla (Wellesley College), K. Iyer (Columbia); CC BY 4.0
ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst and Andreas Mogensen training for spacewalks at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA.
The training helps astronauts familiarise with the tools and large equipment used during Extra Vehicular Activities, or spacewalks.
Alexander will be launched on 6 June with US astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. Soyuz MS-09 will be the 138th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The mission is called Horizons to evoke exploring our Universe, looking far beyond our planet and broadening our knowledge. His first mission was called Blue Dot.
Alexander will take over command of the International Space Station for the second half of his mission. This is only the second time that a European astronaut will take up this leading position on the space outpost – the first was ESA astronaut Frank De Winne in 2009. Alexander Gerst is the 11th German citizen to fly into space.
The science programme is packed with European research: more than 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people back on Earth and prepare for future space exploration.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Vega-C Payload Assembly Composite (PAC) with LARES-2 has been rolled out to the Vega Launch Zone (ZLV) and hoisted onto the Vega-C launch Vehicle on 7 July 2022 at Europe's Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana.
On the wave of Vega’s success, Member States at the ESA Ministerial meeting in December 2014 agreed to develop the more powerful Vega-C to respond to an evolving market and to long-term institutional needs.
Vega-C increases performance from Vega’s current 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit, covering identified European institutional users’ mission needs, with no increase in launch service and operating costs.
The participating states in this development are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Credits: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is training together with NASA Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor at the the Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. The training took place on 6 March 2018 in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. The astronauts dealt with various emergency scenarios, including a fire in a laptop in the crew quarters, a fire in a lab module and a several communication issues. The goal is to prepare the crew for possible emergencies.
Alexander will be launched on 6 June with US astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. Soyuz MS-09 will be the 138th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft.
The mission is called Horizons to evoke exploring our Universe, looking far beyond our planet and broadening our knowledge. His first mission was called Blue Dot. Alexander will take over command of the International Space Station for the second half of his mission. This is only the second time that a European astronaut will take up this leading position on the space outpost – the first was ESA astronaut Frank De Winne in 2009. Alexander Gerst is the 11th German citizen to fly into space.
The science programme is packed with European research: more than 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people back on Earth and prepare for future space exploration.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The inaugural flight Vega-C launcher integration process began with the P120 solid rocket stage being delivered to the Vega Launch Zone (Zone de Lancement Vega) ZLV at Europe's Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana on 15 April 2022.
On the wave of Vega’s success, Member States at the ESA Ministerial meeting in December 2014 agreed to develop the more powerful Vega-C to respond to an evolving market and to long-term institutional needs.
Vega-C increases performance from Vega’s current 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit, covering identified European institutional users’ mission needs, with no increase in launch service and operating costs.
The participating states in this development are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Vega-C will also accommodate the flight-proven Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) dispenser, which further reduces cost-to-orbit by enabling rideshare missions, with or without a large, primary payload.
Credits: ESA - M. Pedoussaut
On 4 October 2025, the European Space Agency has expanded its capability to communicate with scientific, exploration and space safety missions across our Solar System with the inauguration of a new 35-m diameter deep space antenna in New Norcia, Western Australia – the fourth for Estrack, ESA’s satellite tracking network.
The inauguration ceremony was led by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher alongside Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency, and Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations, together with Stephen Dawson, the Western Australia Minister for Regional Development, Ports, Science and Innovation, Medical Research and the Kimberley, with Sabine Winton, Western Australia Minister for Education, Early Childhood, Preventative Health and the Wheatbelt, in attendance.
When the new deep space antenna enters service in 2026, it will support ESA’s current flagship missions flown as part of the Agency's scientific, exploration and space safety fleets, including Juice, Solar Orbiter, BepiColombo, Mars Express and Hera, and will be a critical enabler for upcoming missions including Plato, Envision, Ariel, Ramses and Vigil.
Learn more about our new antenna.
Credits: ESA
The 11th annual ESA Open Day at ESA’s technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, took place on the weekend of 1 and 2 October 2022. On 1 October, visitors with disabilities had the opportunity to follow the tour at their own pace. On both days visitors were able to meet astronauts, space scientists and engineers and learn all about the work carried out at Europe’s largest space establishment.
Credits: G. Porter
Since the beginning of the space age, with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, we have launched thousands of rockets carrying more than ten thousand satellites into space.
The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in these numbers, and over the last few decades there has been a change in the type of mission flown, with private companies (yellow) launching smaller satellites than those launched by non-commercial agencies (blue).
This graph, created in a joint project between ESA and the UN, also shows the number of unregistered objects (red) has increased in recent years. It should be noted that these are objects not yet registered with the UN, and registration rates are expected to increase.
In episode 4 of the ESA-UNOOSA space debris series, Ian Freeman and Francesca Letizia discuss what these changes mean for the future of spaceflight and the creation of space debris.
Credits: ESA / UNOOSA
The fairing of the Ariane 5 launcher is lowered over the BepiColombo spacecraft stack.
Credits: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut
The smooth topped, rounded flows seen extending from the base of the crater wall are ‘debris aprons’: remnants of rock-covered glaciers that likely formed when the martian climate allowed ice to accumulate at the mid-latitudes of Mars. Over time, the debris-covered glaciers slowly crept downslope to form the gently sloping bulges seen today.
The erosive action of ice and water has resulted in the considerable widening of the crater of up to twice its original size.
A particularly dramatic example is seen at the right edge of this image, where a wide channel has been gouged out. It is reminiscent of the U-shaped valleys carved by glaciers on Earth. Here, it may have started out in a V-shape due to flowing water – or water draining out from beneath and causing collapse – and later widened during a period of glaciation.
The oblique perspective view was generated from the digital terrain model, the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express from data collected 25 October 2024.
[Image description: A sweeping view along the crater rim of Deuteronilus Cavus, which transects the image from bottom right to centre-top, focuses on the smooth debris flows that have slid towards the centre of the crater. At the right, a large chunk of the crater wall is missing, forming a U-shaped valley with a grooved floor. Towards the centre of the crater – the far top left of the image – a patch of dark volcanic dust covers the surface. Jumbled blocks are seen in the centre, contrasting the smoother flows around the inner walls.]
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
ESA joined the Space Pavilion at ILA 2022 to present the newest programmes, missions and technologies at the heart of Europe’s space effort. The Pavilion also highlights upcoming commercial opportunities in the space sector for German, European and global industry focussing on sustainability and climate change, digitalization, innovation, research and space safety.
Credits: ESA - P. Sebirot
Rollout to the launch pad of the Soyuz rocket with the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft inside, 4 June 2018. The spacecraft will launch ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst into space alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 6 June.
The 50-m tall Soyuz rocket will propell the astronauts to their cruising speed of around 28 800 km/h. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, the trio travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft accelerated 50 km/h on average.
The rocket is rolled to the launch pad on a train, the astronauts are not allowed to see this part of the launch preparation – it is considered bad luck.
This will be Alexander’s second spaceflight, called Horizons. He will also be the second ESA astronaut to take over command of the International Space Station. The Horizons science programme is packed with European research: over 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people on Earth as well as prepare for future space exploration.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The robotic hand designed to collect samples on other worlds is getting its mechanical fingers assembled.
This picture shows the mechanism that allows ESA’s Sample Transfer Arm to pick up tubes filled with precious regolith – the dust, soil and rock on the martian surface – for analysis back on Earth.
The “hand” of the robotic arm, or end effector, uses two tools to seize its treasure: fingers to grip sample tubes tightly but with care, and a plunger to insert them into a container destined for Earth. In this image, a technician holds the black gripping jaws together during assembly.
A clever mechanism allows the robot to switch between tools, despite both being driven by a single motor – an efficient design that reduces mass and volume, critical factors for any space mission.
European engineers at Added Value Solutions (AVS) from Spain assembled the end effector for testing and keep building expertise for future missions. This engineering model confirms that the mechanism works as intended.
Initially designed for Mars Sample Return to transfer samples to a rocket for the journey home, the technology behind this robotic helping hand also has high potential for applications on the Moon and in low Earth orbit.
Watch the prototype in action in the article “Grip on Mars”.
Credits: AVS
This image shows Terra Cimmeria, a region found in the southern highlands of Mars, in 3D when viewed using red-green or red-blue glasses.
This anaglyph was derived from data obtained by the nadir and stereo channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express during spacecraft orbit 18904. It covers a part of the martian surface centred at about 171° East and 40° South. North is to the right.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Space might seem an empty, vast expanse, but satellites in Earth's orbit face the constant risk of collision - with other satellites, dead or alive, or with fragments of debris.
It is now routine for operators of spacecraft in busy highways to divert their mission out of harms way. In fact at ESA, each mission flown performs on average two 'collision avoidance manoeuvres' per year.
These manoeuvres are costly. Hours are spent on the ground monitoring the skies, calculating the risk and planning manoeuvres, not to mention the extra fuel spent and missed science and data collected while instruments are turned off.
Find out more in the joint ESA-UN podcast that narrates this space debris infographic series, with Benjamin Bastida Virgili and Hazuki Mori.
Credits: ESA / UNOOSA
This perspective view shows Greeley Crater, a degraded impact crater located in the Southern Highlands of Mars.
This oblique perspective was generated using data from the Mars Express high-resolution camera stereo channels. This scene is part of a region imaged over 16 Mars Express orbits (0430, 1910, 1932, 2412, 2467, 2478, 4306, 4317, 4328, 6556, 8613, 8620, 8708, 12835, 14719, 16778), with the gathered data combined to form a detailed mosaic. The images cover a part of the martian surface ranging from 2°W to 9°E / 31.5° to 43.5°S. This view shows the crater from a southwesterly direction, looking across from the North-East.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO