Space News & Blog Articles

Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures an active lava flow on the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island.

The European Space Agency has achieved a European first with Celeste, successfully transmitting a navigation signal from low Earth orbit, following the launch of the mission’s first satellites on March 28.

Image: Orion and its European Service Module bringing the crew around the Moon and back to Earth

Lasers could one day steer solar sails and adjust a satellite’s position in outer space, thanks to graphene. An experiment on a gravity rollercoaster ride showed how this innovative material has the potential to revolutionise propulsion beyond Earth.

On 6 April 2026, NASA’s Artemis II Mission, powered by ESA’s European Service Module (ESM), brought humans further than ever before. 

Week in images: 30 March - 03 April 2026

Image: A pair of planet-forming discs

‘Extreme but not exotic,’ – a glimpse at Comet 3I/ATLAS through the eyes of the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice).

Image: In an unusual perspective for an Earth-observing satellite, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures this image of Earth’s only natural satellite.

Video: 00:02:12

Artemis II launched on 2 April at 00:35 CEST, (18:35 local time on 1 April), sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. At the heart of the mission is ESA's European Service Module, which powers, propels and sustains the Orion spacecraft and its crew on their journey around the Moon and safely back to Earth.

At 00:35 CEST today (18:35 local time on 1 April), NASA's Space Launch System rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on Artemis II. At the heart of the mission is ESA's European Service Module, which powers, propels and sustains the Orion spacecraft and its crew on their journey around the Moon and safely back to Earth.

Géraldine Naja took up duty as Director of Space Transportation (D/STS) at the European Space Agency on 1 April 2026. She will continue to serve as head of her former directorate, now called the Commercialisation and Industry Partnership directorate (D/CIP), as acting director.

Video: 00:03:15

At 10:14 CET on 28 March, the first two satellites of ESA’s Celeste LEO-PNT in-orbit demonstration mission lifted off aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Māhia, New Zealand.

Week in images: 23-27 March 2026

Christine Klein took up duty as acting Director of Controlling, Finance and Operational Procurement (D/CFO) at the European Space Agency on 1 April 2026. She will lead the newly established directorate during its consolidation.

Eight CubeSats and one payload supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) reached orbit, where they will demonstrate various applications aimed at improving how data is sent around and processed. Thanks to these demonstrations, practical and – sometimes – even life-saving data enabled from space will move more efficiently and reach the right actors on time in the future.

On 28 March, the European Space Agency (ESA) took a major step forward in strengthening Europe's ambition for more resilient satellite navigation, as the first two satellites of the Celeste in-orbit demonstration mission lifted off from New Zealand aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron. Their mission is to begin testing a complementary low Earth orbit layer for Galileo.

Image: Hubble image of barred spiral galaxy IC 486

Image: Western Australia’s Kimberley region is featured in this double view from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have joined forces to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Infrared and visible observations show layers and storms in the ringed planet’s atmosphere.