Space News & Blog Articles
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures a spectacular geological wonder in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania: the Richat Structure.
On 2 December 1995 the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) blasted into space – on what was supposed to be a two-year mission.
ESA Discovery and Preparation has launched a new podcast series highlighting the innovative space technologies being developed through its activities.
The Italian programme IRIDE, which provides public sector services based on data from its fleet of Earth observation constellations, has added eight satellites to its second constellation, Eaglet II.
Europe has strengthened its secure-communications capabilities with the successful launch of SpainSat NG II on 24 October, wrapping up the SpainSat Next Generation programme supported by the European Space Agency (ESA). With both SpainSat NG satellites now in orbit, Europe will see its most advanced governmental communications system to date, a major step for the continent’s security, crisis-response capacity, and technological autonomy.
Image: The Hayli Gubbi volcano in northeast Ethiopia, dormant for up to 12 000 years, erupted on 23 November 2025, sending a large plume of ash and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Copernicus Sentinel-5P captured the spread of the sulphur dioxide.
The clock is ticking! Applications for the ESA Student Internship Programme 2026 close on 30 November. This is your chance to take your first step into the world of space.
The European Space Agency's Ministerial Council – more formally Council at Ministerial level – takes place in Bremen, Germany on 26 and 27 November 2025.
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over one of Earth’s most extreme environments: the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia.
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has been cruising towards Mercury since October 2018. With just one year to go until it arrives at its destination, what has the mission achieved so far? And what can we expect from its two spacecraft after they enter orbit around the Solar System’s smallest and least-explored rocky planet?
Smile has passed its qualification and flight acceptance review, meaning that it meets all requirements for launch. The launch window has been set for 8 April to 7 May 2026.
Video: 01:00:00
The press conference, at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, follows the signing of contracts between Thales Alenia Space Italy, UK and France, OHB system AG (Germany) and Nammo (UK) for the ESA’s lunar lander programme Argonaut.
The European Space Agency (ESA) brings public and ESA-wide recognition of the outstanding performance of European companies working in the frame of ESA programmes and projects.
Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed an actively growing supermassive black hole within a galaxy just 570 million years after the Big Bang. Part of a class of small, very distant galaxies that have mystified astronomers, CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 represents a vital piece of this puzzle and challenges existing theories about the formation of galaxies and black holes in the early Universe. The discovery connects early black holes with the luminous quasars we observe today.
The European Space Agency’s HydroGNSS, a twin-satellite mission to gather data on Earth’s water cycle, is scheduled to launch on 19 November at 19:18 CET (10:18 Pacific Time). Live coverage of the launch will be shown on ESA Web TV.
For decades, the Amazon rainforest has quietly absorbed vast quantities of human-generated carbon dioxide, helping to slow the pace of climate change. Recent evidence, however, suggests that this vital natural buffer may be weakening – though uncertainties remain.

