ESA

SAGA Space Architects has used a shipping container to create a tiny shelter with an out-of-this-world focus. Named FLEXHab, its compact interior sleeps up to four people and functions as a simulated lunar habitat.

Europe's newest heavy-lift rocket roared into space today as the Ariane 6 booster lifted off from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana at 4:00 pm GFT (19:00 GMT). Designated VA262, the inaugural flight carried a variety of payloads into orbit.

Europe will be back in the heavy lift rocket business on July 9, 2024 when the Ariane 6 lifts off on its maiden flight carrying almost a dozen satellites and experiments. The launch window at Kourou, French Guiana opens at 2:00 pm EDT. Here's how to watch.

Imperial College is developing a rocket thruster called the Iridium Catalysed Electrolysis CubeSat Thruster (ICE-Cube Thruster) that is so small that it can only be fabricated using techniques originally designed for making silicon chips.

In an historic experiment, ESA has made a controlled reentry of its Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-Aeolus) satellite in a maneuver designed to reduce the risk of such end-of-life events creating space debris or fragments reaching the ground.

After 27 years and 117 missions, ESA's heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket has launched into retirement with the successful lift off of Flight VA261 on July 5, 2023 at 22:00 GMT from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana.

No astronaut has set foot on Mars (yet), but that hasn't stopped Omega, in partnership with the ESA, from developing the Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer, an analog/digital quartz wristwatch that can track time on the Red Planet as well as on Earth.

The ISS is about to receive its third robotic arm, which will be capable of "walking" around the Russian segment of the orbital outpost all by itself. It will do so hand-over-hand thanks to the flexibility afforded by its seven motorized joints.

A first-of-a-kind spacecraft is set to make history later this year, but will do so using materials you could find at your local hardware store. The world's first wooden satellite is set to enter orbit as a box made largely of birch plywood.

ESA is working on ways to make sharing unwashed underwear used in spacesuits a bit less horrible. The Austrian Space Forum will work with the Vienna Textile Lab to test textiles with improved anti-bacterial properties for suits used on long missions.

Scientists have condensed decades of footage taken of our Sun’s atmosphere into a 47-minute video showcasing solar activity on a grand scale. The video was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric observatory.

An ESA initiative is researching new materials for spacesuits and other equipment that are better able to withstand the destructive effects of lunar dust, which is made of razor-sharp and abrasive particles that cling to everything.