European Space Agency

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/ Hubble Space Telescope’s extraordinary sensitivity have discovered a swarm of boulders that were possibly shaken off the asteroid Dimorphos when NASA deliberately slammed the half-tonne DART impactor spacecraft into Dimorphos at approximately 22 500 kilometres per hour. DART intentionally impacted Dimorphos on 26 September 2022, slightly changing the trajectory of its orbit around the larger asteroid Didymos. View the full article

Image: 3D-printed bend-based mechanism View the full article

The Italian region of Emilia-Romagna was devastated by severe floods in May 2023, claiming lives and displacing thousands of people, resulting in an estimated €8.8 billion in damages. With the region still grappling with the aftermath, satellites have been instrumental in assessing the damages of the affected areas. View the full article

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For the first time, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the chemical signature of carbon-rich dust grains at redshift ~ 7 [1], which is roughly equivalent to one billion years after the birth of the Universe [2]. Similar observational signatures have been observed in the much more recent Universe, attributed to complex, carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is not thought likely, however, that PAHs would have developed within the first billion years of cosmic time. View the full article

Video: 00:45:00 After completing its mission in orbit, ESA’s wind mission Aeolus will soon reenter Earth's atmosphere. Currently orbiting 320 km above, Aeolus is being kept in orbit with its remaining fuel. This fuel is running out, and the satellite will soon succumb to Earth’s atmosphere and gravity. Going above and beyond what the satellite was technically designed to do, ESA is attempting a first-of-its-kind assisted reentry to reduce the (already very small) risk of damage from any fragments that survive the journey and reach the ground. ESA held an online media briefing on 19 July 2023 to explain more about this assisted approach and answer questions. View the full article

ESA's Mars Express has revisited an old favourite: the distinctive and fascinating Mawrth Vallis, one of the most promising locations on Mars in our search for signs of life. View the full article

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Fuelled largely by climate change, our planet is being subjected to environmental changes that are having an unprecedented global impact on humans, animals and plants. Shockingly, in certain locations these changes are occurring at a rate never before witnessed. To keep pace with the challenges we face, ESA is embarking on a new Earth observation science strategy – and has reached out to the scientific community at this early stage in the process to help guide the Agency’s scientific agenda for the coming years. View the full article

Image: Infographic: ESA Technology CubeSats, the first 10 years View the full article

Week in images: 10-14 July 2023 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

After almost five years, ESA’s Aeolus wind satellite has completed its mission. Now, you can listen to the Life of Aeolus – an incredible wind orchestral piece that has been composed using data spanning Aeolus’ entire life in orbit around Earth. View the full article

Image: Lunar solar power satellite View the full article

Image: Reminiscent of an artist’s pallet, this striking false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission features Lake Abbe in northeast Ethiopia. View the full article

Isn’t it strange that when satellites run out of fuel or a single component breaks down, we just discard them? ESA and European industry have joined forces to make sure that our satellites can live on. View the full article

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Temperatures are sizzling across Europe this week amid an intense and prolonged period of heat. And it’s only just begun. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave with temperatures expected to climb to 48°C on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe. View the full article

From our cosmic backyard in the Solar System to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the Universe like never before in its first year of science operations. To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, a new Webb image has been released of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. While the region is relatively quiet, its proximity at 390 light-years makes for a highly detailed close-up, with no foreground stars in the intervening space. View the full article

Video: 00:03:03 Webb is celebrating the completion of its first year of science operations. Let’s look back on the observatory’s first year in images! View the full article

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A state-of-the-art conference centre that will support the thriving UK space industry has opened at Harwell campus in Oxfordshire. View the full article

After exceeding its planned life in orbit, ESA’s Aeolus wind satellite is on its way back to Earth. The satellite is currently falling around 1 km a day, and its descent is accelerating. ESA’s spacecraft operators will soon intervene and attempt to guide Aeolus in a first-of-its-kind assisted reentry. Why is ESA doing this? View the full article