ESA

Space

Ariane 6 engine core aces qualification tests

The Vulcain 2.1 liquid-fueled engine, the rocket that will power the first stage of ESA's Ariane 6 launcher, has passed its qualification tests.

A partial view of the mosaic, which showcases the complexity of the Martian terrain

Space

ESA spacecraft captures mosaic of Mars from orbit

ESA has released a breathtaking mosaic of the Red Planet, stitched together from images taken by the Mars Express spacecraft.

The trail of a bouncing boulder on Comet 67P

Space

Rosetta probe spots bouncing boulders on Comet 67P

Images returned by the Rosetta mission show dramatic evidence of collapsing cliffs and bouncing boulders on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

FSSCat proposes a constellation of two 6U CubeSats that provide data on Earth’s ice and soil moisture content to complement the Sentinel fleet

Space

First Earth observation satellite with AI set to launch

ESA plans to launch the first Earth observation satellite incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in a few months.

This artist’s impression shows K2-18b, a potentially habitable exoplanet that has now been found to have water vapor in its atmosphere

Space

Water vapor detected on potentially habitable Super-Earth

Water is crucial to life as we know it, so it’s one of the key things astronomers look out for on exoplanets. And now, water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere of a potentially habitable exoplanet for the first time.

Artist's impression of the Aeolus satellite in orbit

Space

ESA fires satellite thrusters to avoid collision

ESA has been forced to reposition its Aeolus satellite to avoid a collision with a member of SpaceX’s Starlink mega constellation.

An example page showing details of the BepiColombo Mercury mission communicating with the New Norcia ground station in Australia

Space

ESA tool tracks spacecraft talking to ground stations

ESA has released a tool that lets space enthusiasts track probes in real time as they communicate with ground stations on Earth.

An animation made from data captured by the Sentinel-2 mission showing fires on the border between Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay

Environment

Satellite data reveals increase in Amazon forest fires

Data collected by ESA satellites has revealed a near fourfold increase in the number of fires devastating the Amazon rain forest.

In this new galactic map, different colors represent groups of stars that are traveling together, after being born together

Space

Colorful galactic map shows strange strings of stars

It looks like a Jackson Pollock painting, but this colorful mess is a new map of the Milky Way, showing strange star structures.

Space

Rosalind Franklin Mars rover heads to France for environmental testing

ESA's Rosalind Franklin ExoMars 2020 Mars rover is off to France for environmental and launch testing.

Scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 mission and the European-Russian ExoMars mission traveled to the Australian Outback to hone their research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet in the summer of 2020

Space

Australian Outback to aid in search for life on Mars

Scientists from NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos went to Outback in Australia to learn more about how to find signs of fossil life on Mars.

Jupiter System captured in Juice camera test

Space

ESA's Juice deep-space Jupiter mission first images.

ESA's Juice deep-space probe has captured an image of Jupiter and its four largest moons – even though it won't launch for three years.