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ATV-4 Scheduled for Summer Liftoff

ATV-4

ESA's space freighter ATV Albert Einstein will be the heaviest spacecraft ever launched into space by an Ariane rocket when it lifts off to the International Space Station on 5 June.
Albert Einstein is the fourth in the five-vessel Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-series of space cargo freighters and is undergoing final integration and cargo loading at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou.

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Join The Movement: International Space Apps Challenge

International Space Apps Challenge

In April, you are invited to join thousands of enthusiasts to invent and create applications to help space exploration and improve life on Earth at the International Space Apps Challenge.

New Chairs for two UK Space Agency Advisory Committees

The UK Space Agency is pleased to announce new chairpersons for two of its advisory committees: the Science Programme Advisory Committee (SPAC) and Space Exploration Advisory Committee (SEAC).

ESA Seeks Innovators for Orbiting Laboratory Ops-Sat

ESA is offering software developers the opportunity to use its new testbed in space. The robust nanosat will allow individuals, companies and institutions to try out pioneering software without the danger of losing a mission.

Smartphone Satellite STRaND-1 Operational in Orbit

STRaND-1, the nanosatellite carrying a smartphone, has been declared operational in orbit by the mission team from the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).

Call for White Papers for the Definition of the L2 and L3 missions in the ESA Science Programme

The Director of Science and Robotic Exploration intends to define, in the course of 2013, the science themes and questions that will be addressed by the next two Large (L-class) missions in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan, "L2" and "L3", currently planned for a launch in 2028 and 2034, respectively.

Scientists at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Discover 18kg Antarctic Meteorite

A team of scientists working at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica have recently discovered a meteorite weighing 18kg embedded in the East Antarctic ice sheet, the largest such meteorite found in the region since 1988.

Herschel to Finish Observing Soon

ESA's Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks after spending more than three exciting years studying the cool universe.

Earth from Space: Cotmeana, Romania

Korea's Kompsat-2 satellite captured this image of southern central Romania in January. The area pictured is part of a geographic transitional region between the Southern Carpathians to the north and the lowland plains to the south.

Ocean Link - Earth From Space by ESA

Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. In this episode Kelsea discusses Central Panama and its 80 km-long ship canal.

Image: Kamchatka Peninsula As Seen From Space

Our Earth is itself a fragile 'spaceship', but we tend to forget this in our everyday lives. Sometimes distance is required from a subject to appreciate it fully. ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers is taking photographs of Earth from 400 km out in space, to remind us just how beautiful and vulnerable our planet is.