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Copernicus Environmental Satellite Launched

Copernicus Launch

The ability of European citizens, policymakers and service providers to access key environmental data on a routine basis will take a major step forward following the launch today of ESA's Sentinel-1A satellite.

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Packing ESA's Last ATV

ATV Georges Lemaitre

ESA's fifth and last Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Georges Lemaitre, will deliver more than 2600 kg of dry cargo to the International Space Station.

Earth from Space Special: Sentinel-1 Set for Launch

On April 3rd, Sentinel-1 will be launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on a Soyuz launcher. The radar mission is the first of the Copernicus programme, providing an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery for Copernicus user services.

ESA Director General Meets the Media

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain met with media at the traditional start-of-year briefing on the activities and challenges for 2014.

Africa, Europe, and the Middle East At Night

This new image of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The new data was mapped over existing Blue Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the planet.

Gaia Launched From Kourou

ESA's Gaia mission blasted off this morning on a Soyuz rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on its exciting mission to study a billion suns.

ESA Bulletin 155 Magazine Now Available

A new edition of the European Space Agency's quarterly magazine 'bulletin' is now available.

Earth from Space: Northern Greece

The northwestern part of Greece is pictured in this image acquired on 28 April by the Landsat-8 satellite.

Ariane 5 Launch of Alphasat and INSAT-3D

An Ariane 5 launcher containing Europe's largest telecom satellite Alphasat and India's INSAT-3D was launched from Kourou, French Guiana yesterday afternoon.

ATV-4 Scheduled for Summer Liftoff

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.

Join The Movement: 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.