European Space Agency

Image: Collision avoidance: what's the cost? View the full article

Following the selection of three Earth Explorer candidate missions to enter a first feasibility study in September 2018, ESA has chosen one of the candidates, Harmony, to move to the next phase of development. Harmony is envisaged as a mission with two satellites that orbit in formation with one of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites to address key scientific questions related to ocean, ice and land dynamics. View the full article

Following the selection of three Earth Explorer candidate missions to enter a first feasibility study in September 2018, ESA has chosen one of the candidates, Harmony, to move to the next phase of development. Harmony is envisaged as a mission with two satellites that orbit in formation with one of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites to address key scientific questions related to ocean, ice and land dynamics. View the full article

Using a 25-year record of satellite observations over the Getz region in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered that the pace at which glaciers flow towards the ocean is accelerating. This new research, which includes data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission and ESA’s CryoSat mission, will help determine if these glaciers could collapse in the next few decades and how this would affect future global sea-level rise. View the full article

Using a 25-year record of satellite observations over the Getz region in West Antarctica, scientists have discovered that the pace at which glaciers flow towards the ocean is accelerating. This new research, which includes data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission and ESA’s CryoSat mission, will help determine if these glaciers could collapse in the next few decades and how this would affect future global sea-level rise. View the full article

Image: Does this image make you anxious or are you already tracking where all the wires go? If the latter, you might have what it takes to be an astronaut! It is an exciting time for space. With NASA’s latest rover safely on Mars and ESA’s call for the next class of astronauts, the space industry is teeming with possibilities. This image taken in ESA’s Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station is a snapshot of the many opportunities in space research and exploration. In the centre is the Biolab facility, a fridge-sized unit that hosts biological experiments on micro-organisms, cells, tissue cultures, small plants and small invertebrates. Performing life science experiments in space identifies the role that weightlessness plays at all levels of an organism, from the effects on a single cell up to a complex organism – including humans. The facility has enabled researchers to make some remarkable discoveries, most notable that mammalian immune cells required a mere 42 seconds to adapt to weightlessness, prompting more questions but also an overall positive outlook for long-duration human spaceflight. The pink glow in the image is from the greenhouse that has enabled many studies on plant growth in space. With plans to visit the Moon and Mars, future astronauts will need a regular, fresh source of food as they take on these missions farther away from home. In addition to providing much-needed vitamins and minerals, growing plants in space contributes to sustainability and adds a homey touch to exploration. Growing plants in the microgravity conditions of the International Space Station has allowed researchers to fine tune the approach. European research showed plants respond best to red and blue light, giving the Columbus module a disco feel. If you look closely, you can spot Astro Pi Ed to the left of Biolab. As part of ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission (2015–2016) to the International Space Station, two space-hardened Raspberry Pi computers, called Astro Pis and nicknamed Ed and Izzy, equipped with environmental sensors, were sent to the Space Station. They are regularly used to run students’ and young people’s programmes as part of the Astro Pi Challenge. Of course, a whole host of researchers, ground control crew, and mission support specialists make space research and exploration possible. The excitement of space continues. If you think you have what it takes, apply to be part of the team. View the full article

Space can help to identify historic landscapes and conserve cultural buildings. Find out how by joining a free ESA digital workshop introduced by UNESCO’s chief cultural heritage manager alongside ESA's director general. View the full article

Traditionally, optical, or ‘camera-like’, satellite images are used to map different crops from space, but a recent study shows that Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar data along with interferometric processing can make crop-type mapping even better. This, in turn, will help improve crop-yield forecasts, production statistics, drought and storm damage assessments, and more. View the full article

Week in images: 15 - 19 February 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Image: Italy’s Mount Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has erupted twice in less than 48 hours, spewing a fountain of lava and ash into the sky. This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image has been processed to show the lava flow in bright red. View the full article

Image: Italy’s Mount Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has erupted twice in less than 48 hours, spewing a fountain of lava and ash into the sky. This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image has been processed to show the lava flow in bright red. View the full article

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Lusaka – the capital and largest city of Zambia. View the full article

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Lusaka – the capital and largest city of Zambia. View the full article

Image: A contract signed today secures ESA InCubed co-funding towards the development of Aerospacelab’s Multispectral Companion Mission View the full article

Video: 01:00:00 For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for new astronauts to work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration. Speakers include Jan Wörner, ESA Director General; Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA astronaut; Tim Peake, ESA astronaut; David Parker, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration; Frank De Winne, ESA Low Earth Orbit Exploration Group Leader, Head of the European Astronaut Centre; Jennifer Ngo-Anh, ESA Research and Payloads Programme Coordinator, Human and Robotic Exploration; Lucy van der Tas, ESA Head of Talent Acquisition. Press briefings in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch, are available in our video gallery. View the full article

Week in images: 08 - 12 February 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

In early 2019, all eyes were fixed on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, where a massive iceberg, around the size of Greater London, appeared poised to break off. Almost two years later, the berg is desperately clinging on, although current data indicate calving is imminent. A new crack, spotted in images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel missions, now suggests the potential for calving of multiple bergs. View the full article

Image: As this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image captured today shows, the Netherlands remains pretty much snow-covered thanks to days of sub-zero temperatures following the country’s first major snowstorm in a decade. View the full article

Image: Competitors of the Vendée Globe sailing race are now nearing the finishing point, but while they were near the treacherous iceberg-infested waters of the Southern Ocean they remained relatively safe thanks to satellite observations. View the full article

Image: Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article

Video: 00:03:23 This week's edition of the Earth from Space programme features a Copernicus Sentinel-2 image of Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. See also Sardinia, Italy to download the image. View the full article

Video: 00:02:50 In this week's edition of the Earth from Space programme, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Tanezrouft Basin – one of the most desolate parts of the Sahara Desert. See also Tanezrouft Basin to download the image. View the full article

Video: 00:03:38 In this week's edition of the Earth from Space programme, the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over Lapland, the largest and northernmost region of Finland, just in time for Christmas. See also Rovaniemi, Lapland to download the image. View the full article

Press Release N° 33–2020 On Tuesday, November 17, Arianespace announced the loss of the Vega VV17 mission, which was carrying two payloads, SEOSAT-Ingenio, an Earth-science observation satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA), on behalf of Spain's Center for Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), and TARANIS for France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES). The first three stages functioned nominally until the ignition of the AVUM upper stage, eight minutes after liftoff. At that time, a degraded trajectory was detected, followed by a loss of control of the vehicle and the subsequent loss of the mission. View the full article

Video: 00:02:06 The giant A-68A iceberg could strike land this month – wreaking havoc near the waters of the South Georgia Island. Since its ‘birth’ in 2017, the iceberg has travelled thousands of kilometres from the Larsen C ice shelf, in Antarctica, and now lies around 120 km from South Georgia. If it remains on its current path, the iceberg could ground in the shallow waters offshore – threatening wildlife, including penguins and seals. Satellite missions are being used to track the berg on its journey over the past three years. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission, with its ability to see through clouds and the dark, has been instrumental in mapping the polar regions in winter. Video credits: Animation: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017-18), processed by Swansea University-A. Luckman Radar images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO A-68A map: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA; Antarctic Iceberg Tracking Database Sentinel-1 animations: ESA/ATG Medialab Penguin footage: Getty Images View the full article