ESA’s Hera asteroid mission borrows eyes of NASA’s Dawn
The mission to the smallest asteroid ever explored will employ the same main camera as the mission to the largest asteroids of all. ESA’s proposed Hera spacecraft to the Didymos asteroid pair has inherited its main imager from NASA’s...
Earth from Space
In this week's edition, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Kenya’s capital, Nairobi
A Cosmic Bat in Flight
Hidden in one of the darkest corners of the Orion constellation, this Cosmic Bat is spreading its hazy wings through interstellar space two thousand light-years away. It is illuminated by the young stars nestled in its core — despite being...
ESA greenlight for UK's air-breathing rocket engine
The development programme of the world’s first air-breathing rocket engine has taken an additional significant step forward, which will lead to major testing milestones being undertaken within the next 18 months.
Sentinels monitor converging ice cracks
The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission shows how cracks cutting across Antarctica’s Brunt ice shelf are on course to truncate the shelf and release an iceberg about the size of Greater London – it’s just a matter of time.
Do the locomotion
Human and robotic exploration image of the week: Slope test for ExoMars
Floating ideas for an airlock near the Moon
Assembly of a new habitable structure near the Moon, known as the Gateway, is scheduled to begin in 2023. The international project will allow humans to explore farther than ever before and it brings new opportunities for European...
Space tech poised to make air travel greener and more efficient
Passengers travelling through busy airports should soon face fewer delays and have a lower environmental impact, thanks to efforts to use airspace more efficiently. The Iris programme seeks to equip aircraft with satellite-based data...
Nitrogen dioxide pollution mapped
New maps that use information from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite reveal nitrogen dioxide emission being released into the atmosphere in cities and towns across the globe.
Cleaning Mars parachute
Technology image of the week: A test version of the main ExoMars 2020 parachute being heat treated in an ESA oven to make it sterile enough for the Red Planet
Testing space batteries to destruction for cleaner skies
Engineers descended into bunkers to test space batteries to destruction – through overheating, overcharging, short circuits and even by shooting them with bullets. The three-year test campaign is helping assess the risk of abandoned...
Testing space batteries to destruction for cleaner skies
Engineers descended into bunkers to test space batteries to destruction – through overheating, overcharging, short circuits and even by shooting them with bullets. The three-year test campaign is helping assess the risk of abandoned...
Gateway to the Moon
The International Space Station partners have endorsed plans to continue the development of the Gateway, an outpost around the Moon that will act as a base to support both robots and astronauts exploring the lunar surface.
Exoplanet watcher
Space Science Image of the Week: After completing final tests, our exoplanet satellite Cheops is ready for flight
Microlaunchers to grow Europe’s economy
A flourishing small satellites market is driving demand for new ways to access space. Recent industry feasibility studies backed by ESA for new microlauncher services, are creating new business opportunities.
Mikronosiče pomohou růstu evropské ekonomiky
Rozkvétající trh s malými družicemi je za poptávkou po nových způsobe dopravy do vesmíru. Aktuální studie proveditelnosti podporovaná ESA studovala nově nabízené služby mikronosičů a vytváření nových obchodních příležitostí.
ESA helps business fly in space
New ‘cubesat’ technology and falling launch costs mean that businesses, universities and other organisations are increasingly able to launch their own small satellites. Now ESA is offering facilities and know-how to help them fly.
Space radiation detector can help to spot fake masterpieces
Technology originally developed for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and then flown in space by ESA is now being used to analyse historic artworks, helping to detect forgeries.