European Space Agency
The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200
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Image: How do we tackle the debris problem, to secure the sustainability of space long term? View the full article
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Ariane 6 early combined tests at Latesys in Fos-sur-Mer, in France, have simulated the moment of liftoff when the umbilicals separate from the launch vehicle. View the full article
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Today is 406 Day – the annual campaigning day to spread awareness of the importance of emergency beacons, and the satellites that pick up their signals, including Europe’s Galileo constellation. As well as letting people across the world find their way, Galileo also serves to detect SOS messages and relay them to authorities, contributing to saving many lives. View the full article
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Week in images: 29 March - 02 April 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article
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Image: Getting CubeSats moving View the full article
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With Easter right around the corner, we take a look at four egg-shaped buildings visible from space as captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article
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ESA seeks to open the way to a new era of in-space activities such as refuelling, refurbishment, assembly, manufacturing, and recycling. The Agency is now soliciting ideas for In-Orbit Servicing activities from European industry and academia. View the full article
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The quarterly ESA Impact is out now! View the full article
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Video: 00:01:46 On 31 March 2021, the European Space Agency is opening the application process for its first astronaut selection in over a decade. If you meet the minimum requirements and want to join Europe’s journey into space, this is your chance to apply. Website esa.int/YourWayToSpace provides everything you need to know to prepare your application. All applications must be submitted to ESA’s careers website by 28 May 2021. View the full article
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Applications are open for ESA’s first astronaut selection in over a decade, and all qualified candidates are encouraged to put themselves forward. View the full article
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The General Observer scientific observations for the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s first year of operation have been selected. Proposals from ESA member states comprise 33% of the total number of selected proposals and correspond to 30% of the available telescope time on Webb. View the full article
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Image: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has started training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. Set to launch for her second mission in spring 2022, Samantha is already getting reacquainted with International Space Station systems in a series of refresher courses. Samantha was last on the International Space Station in 2014 for her Futura mission. She spent 200 days in space, conducting European and international scientific experiments and Space Station operations. In the coming months, her schedule will intensify as she trains for the specific experiments and tasks she will perform in space during her second mission. As a collaborative, international …
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The ESAIL microsatellite for making the seas safer has picked up more than two million messages from 70 000 ships in a single day. View the full article
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Following the selection of the first Scout satellite mission last December, ESA has also given the greenlight to start negotiations with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK to lead the development of the second Scout mission – HydroGNSS. View the full article
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The longest corridor in ESA’s largest establishment was turned into a test site for one of the Agency’s most ambitious future missions, Proba-3. The two satellites making up this mission will line up so that one casts a shadow onto the other, revealing inner regions of the Sun’s ghostly atmosphere. But such precision formation flying will only be possible through a vision-based sensor system allowing one satellite to lock onto the other. View the full article
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Climate change is having an undeniable influence on coastal areas. A substantial proportion of the world’s sandy coastlines are already eroding owing to increased storm surges, flooding and sea level rise. With our coastal environments in constant change, Earth observation satellites are being used to better strengthen our knowledge of changing coastlines. View the full article
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Climate change is having an undeniable influence on coastal areas. A substantial proportion of the world’s sandy coastlines are already eroding owing to increased storm surges, flooding and sea level rise. With our coastal environments in constant change, Earth observation satellites are being used to better strengthen our knowledge of changing coastlines. View the full article
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New observations of asteroid Apophis – thought to pose a slight risk of impacting Earth in 2068 – rule out any chance of impact for at least a century. After 17 years of observations and orbit analysis, ESA is removing the enormous asteroid from its Risk List. View the full article
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Week in images: 22 - 26 March 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article
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Image: The enormous Ever Given container ship, wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal, is visible in new images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. View the full article
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The Gariep Dam, the largest dam in South Africa, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article
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Image: The second European Service Module that will power the Orion spacecraft on a crewed flyby of the Moon is fitted with a special engine at Airbus facilities in Germany. This engine belonged to Space Shuttle Atlantis, and is one of five refurbished engines to be paired with the first five European Service Modules. Technicians carefully install the engine in Airbus’ cleanroom. ESM is the powerhouse of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. It will provide critical functions such as the propulsion system to get astronauts to the Moon, and the consumables astronauts need to stay alive. ESM-2 will fuel the crewed Orion spacecraft during a flyby of the Moon for Artemis 2 and is curre…
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For well over a decade, ESA’s SMOS satellite has been delivering a wealth of data to map moisture in soil and salt in the surface waters of the oceans for a better understanding of the processes driving the water cycle. While addressing key scientific questions, this exceptional Earth Explorer has repeatedly surpassed expectations by returning a wide range of unexpected results, often leading to practical applications that improve everyday life. Adding to SMOS’ list of talents, new findings show that what was considered noise in the mission’s data can actually be used to monitor solar activity and space weather, which can damage communication and navigation systems. View…
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As part of its Boost! programme, ESA has signed two new contracts which support UK-based Orbex and Skyrora in their separate proposals for new commercial launch services for small satellites. These services are set to start in the UK from 2022. ESA has awarded €7.45 m of cofunding to Orbex and its partners, and €3 m to Skyrora. View the full article
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Video: 00:02:20 The SMOS satellite carries a novel interferometric radiometer that operates at a frequency of 1.4 GHz in the L-band microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum to capture 'brightness temperature' images. These images correspond to radiation emitted from Earth's surface, which scientists then use to derive information on soil moisture and ocean salinity. However, because of the wide field of view of SMOS' antenna, it doesn't just capture signals emitted from Earth's surface, but also signals from the Sun – which create noise in the brightness temperature images. These stray signals are valuable data for helping to monitor solar activity. Read fu…
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