Space News & Blog Articles

On 8 September 2024, the first of four satellites that make up ESA’s Cluster mission will reenter Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area.

Launched in May, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been making waves, with the first images from three of its scientific instruments already delivered. Now, the spotlight is firmly on the atmospheric lidar, the most advanced of the satellite’s four instruments.

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner Solar System.

Image: Juice snaps Moon en route to Earth

Image: Sentinel-2C fully loaded

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ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) returns to Earth on 19–20 August 2024, to complete the world's first Lunar-Earth gravity assist. Flight controllers will guide the spacecraft past the Moon and then Earth itself, ‘braking’ the spacecraft. This manoeuvre may seem counterintuitive but will allow Juice to take a shortcut via Venus on it's way to Jupiter. 

Φsat-2, ESA’s groundbreaking cubesat designed to revolutionise Earth observation with artificial intelligence, has launched.

ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite has been launched, paving the way for a potential constellation of satellites that would provide more frequent data not only to enhance short-term weather forecasts for Arctic nations, but for the world as a whole.

ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite and Φsat-2 missions are ready for lift-off from Vandenberg, California, with a target launch date of 16 August 2024. 

How the Moon shaped our world: discover our interactive publication

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The effects of the climate crisis are felt more acutely in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet. The weather in the Arctic is not only severe, but it changes extremely quickly. More frequent data are urgently needed to improve weather forecasts for this susceptible polar region.

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Firefighters in Greece are battling a rapidly spreading wildfire that has swept across several neighbourhoods in Athens, Greece, on Monday. Thousands of residents have been evacuated as the massive fire reached the suburbs of Athens, with some flames reaching heights of 25 m.

Week in images: 05-09 August 2024

Image: The hidden intricacies of Messier 106

Build your own Ariane 6 rocket with ESA!

ESA’s star-surveying Gaia mission has again proven to be a formidable asteroid explorer, spotting potential moons around more than 350 asteroids not known to have a companion.

Mars once hosted a lake larger than any on Earth. The broken-down and dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed are shown here in amazing detail by ESA’s Mars Express.

Exactly ten years on since Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, we dig into how the intrepid explorer has transformed our knowledge of comets, revealed some crucial pieces in the Solar System jigsaw puzzle, and shaped how we develop new missions.

Polish project astronaut Sławosz Uznański is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4).