The activities to assemble the European Space Agency’s Plato mission are progressing well now that 24 of the spacecraft’s 26 cameras have been installed. Once in space, Plato will use its many eyes to survey a very large area of the sky and hunt for terrestrial planets. The spacecraft’s supporting element is also coming together in parallel.
For the first time, two spacecraft in orbit were aligned in formation with millimetre precision and maintained their relative position for several hours without any control from the ground.
Just a week after its launch, ESA’s Biomass mission has reached another critical milestone on its path to delivering unprecedented insights into the world’s forests and their vital role in Earth’s carbon cycle – the satellite’s 12-metre-diameter antenna is now fully deployed.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher emphasises the importance of cooperation in space activities
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Astrophysicist and Nobel Prize Laureate Didier Queloz answers the who, what, where, when and why of exoplanets in this 3-part series.
Image: The Ocean and Land Colour Instrument on Copernicus Sentinel-3 captured this image of Earth’s biggest iceberg, A23a, on 5 April 2025.
As the new Biomass satellite settles into life in orbit following its launch on 29 April, ESA has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date. Spanning nearly two decades, the dataset offers the clearest global picture yet of how forest carbon stocks have changed over time.
ESA’s groundbreaking Biomass satellite, designed to provide unprecedented insights into the world’s forests and their crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle, has been launched. The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 29 April at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).
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The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, is now installed on the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. This still image, captured by external cameras on the Station, shows ACES after installation. For 25 years, cameras on the Station have documented activities in orbit, providing real-time views of operations like this one – a rare and remarkable perspective from space.
After years of careful design and preparation, ESA’s Earth Explorer Biomass satellite is set for launch tomorrow, 29 April at 11:15 CEST, aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, has been successfully installed on the International Space Station, marking the start of a new chapter in space-based precision science.
Image: Copernicus Sentinel-1 captured this radar image over French Guiana – home to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, where ESA’s Biomass mission is being prepared for liftoff on 29 April onboard a Vega-C rocket.
ESA's Biomass mission is on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Don’t miss the live coverage of liftoff on Tuesday 29 April, on ESA WebTV. Coverage will start at 10:55 CEST with commentary live from Kourou and ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany. The Vega-C rocket carrying Biomass is scheduled for liftoff at 11:15.
On 28 March 2025, a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Myanmar, sending shockwaves through the region. While the country is still dealing with the devasting aftermath, scientists have used radar images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites to reveal a detailed picture of how the ground shifted as a result of the quake – offering new insights into the mechanics of the tectonic Sagaing Fault and the scale of the seismic rupture.
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