SPACENEWS

In brief It’s a few hours after Juice's launch, and the mission to explore Jupiter's icy moons is in trouble. At the end of his shift, which included two unexplained emergency Safe Modes, Spacecraft Operations Manager Ignacio Tanco looks defeated and sighs, “what a mess”. We are mid-way through one of the most stressful simulations Read More

Sat in a windowless office beneath ESA’s Main Control Room in Darmstadt, Germany, two Simulations Officers have complete control over the Juice spacecraft and ESA’s deep space ground stations across the globe – and they take full advantage. These aren’t the real 35-metre antennas or the actual spacecraft (currently in Kourou, French Guiana), but a Read More

ESA space telescopes have observed the brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen. Data from this rare event could become instrumental in understanding the details of the colossal explosions that create gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). X-rays from the blast have illuminated 20 dust clouds in our galaxy, allowing their distances and dust properties to be determined more accurately Read More

• The recipients of this aid must be non-profit entities with tax residence in Spain and a collection of at least 4 historic aircraft • These grants, which are being offered for the third year, will be awarded to four entities as follows: 97,000 euros for the applicant with the highest score; 54,000, 12,000 and Read More

At its 315th session on 22 and 23 March 2023, the ESA Council approved a series of nominations and extensions of contracts for ESA directors: Mr Rolf Densing, as Director of Operations (D/OPS), renewed for two years as of 1 January 2024 Mr Eric Morel de Westgaver, as Director of European, Legal and International Matters Read More

The two spacecraft forming ESA’s Proba-3 mission for precise formation flying in orbit are now complete. All the instruments and sensors allowing them to manoeuvre to millimetre scale precision relative to one another have been integrated aboard, and the pair are fully wrapped in multi-layer insulation – ready to be tested in simulated space conditions. Read More

At Cape Canaveral SpaceX launched their 20th mission so far this year on Friday late morning for Starlink 5-5 with a ten time first stage booster B-1076 from launch pad SLC-40 Cape Canaveral Florida at 11:43 AM. Fifty-three internet satellites were delivered to space and the first stage booster successfully landed on their drone ship Read More

For the first time ever, ESA Academy is opening a call for university students to apply for the pilot edition of the Navigation Training Course, to be held from 26 to 30 June 2023 at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in ESEC-Galaxia, Belgium. This Training Course has been developed by ESA Education and ESA’s Read More

Get ready to bounce. Bouncing around on the Moon not only sounds like a lot of fun, but it could also be good for astronaut's muscles, bones and the cardiorespiratory system. The "Movement in Low gravity environments" (MoLo) programme from ESA’s space medicine team at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, aims to Read More

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image features the diverse landscape surrounding Monterrey, the capital of the northeast state of Nuevo León, Mexico. Zoom in to explore this image at its full 10 m resolution or click on the circles to learn more. This image, acquired on 5 March 2023, shows a region which combines mountain ranges, agricultural Read More