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Imagine a near future where services such as satellite navigation, video conferencing, and file sharing are as seamless on the Moon as they are on Earth. To source

In an era where natural disasters and emergencies are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, ESA is taking a significant step forward in enhancing Europe’s crisis management capabilities. To source

Video: 00:00:23 From 7 until 13 October 2024, ESA/NASA’s SOHO spacecraft recorded Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), the second brightest comet it has ever seen. Meanwhile, large amounts of material were being spewed out by the Sun (covered in the centre), and planet Mercury is visible to the left. The comet’s nucleus is clearly visible, surrounded […]

Image: Zero Debris Charter goes intercontinental To source

ESA has taken another important step on the road towards sustainability in space with its first in-orbit servicing mission RISE. A €119 million contract was signed with D-Orbit as the co-funding prime contractor. To source

ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence has taken its first images using three of the instruments that will be used to explore and study the asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos. To source

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Week in images: 07-11 October 2024 Discover our week through the lens To source

Image: Resembling a Martian-like surface, this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows part of the Hardap region in south-central Namibia on the western edge of the Kalahari Desert. To source

The day began with an 85% chance that bad weather would cause a launch delay: it ended with ESA’s Hera mission successfully in space and en route to the Didymos binary asteroid system. At 16:52 CEST (14:52 UTC) on 7 October 2024, Hera took to the skies aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape […]

ESA engineers have focused microscopes, hardness testers and an X-ray computer aided tomography machine onto a special aluminium weld just a single centimetre across – the historic result of the very first autonomous welding to be performed in space, and the first ESA has been involved with. To source

Video: 00:01:20 Approximately 41 000 years ago, Earth’s magnetic field briefly reversed during what is known as the Laschamp event. During this time, Earth’s magnetic field weakened significantly—dropping to a minimum of 5% of its current strength—which allowed more cosmic rays to reach Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark and the German […]

With all instruments integrated, the first MetOp Second Generation-A, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite is now fully assembled and on schedule for liftoff next year. Meanwhile, its sibling, MetOp-SG-B1, is undergoing rigorous testing to ensure that it will withstand the vacuum and extreme temperature swings of space. To source