Tag Archives: ESA

In the last decade, space weather has become the subject of serious consideration in the scientific community and global scientific organizations. Solar activity plays an important role in both space operations and terrestrial infrastructure. Flares, storms, and coronal mass ejections are all manifestations of solar activity that can affect the operation of satellites, navigation, surveillance, radio communications, and other important structures. As a consequence, there is a need for a reliable and independent ecosystem for monitoring and forecasting solar weather. Today, the European space sector faces the challenge of creating infrastructure capable of competing with existing international initiatives.

The ClearSpace-1 debris removal mission has undergone a transformative period to achieve a faster execution pace and reviewed mission objectives. After the successful completion of its mission’s first phase, the detection of space debris objects in the vicinity of the mission’s client object, which indicates a collision of the target with untraceable debris, and the need for a change towards a more expedited and cost-effective approach prompted a pivot in the next stage of the ClearSpace-1 mission.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has celebrated the graduation of its class of 2022 astronaut candidates. The ceremony, held at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany, signified the successful completion of basic training for the five European astronaut graduates and the Australian Space Agency’s first astronaut, all now eligible for spaceflight assignments.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded funding to the Space2CLIMB project that seeks to explore the feasibility of a product that will support the financial services sector through innovative biodiversity analytics. Led by GlobalTrust, in collaboration with Ecogain, Space2CLIMB looks to pioneer a satellite data-driven service at the intersection of environmental sustainability and financial decision-making. 

Kepler Communications, Inc. has entered into an agreement with TESAT-Spacecom and Airbus Defence and Space to develop a high bandwidth optical communications network in low Earth orbit (LEO) to address emerging opportunities such as the European Space Agency’s (ESA) High Throughput Optical Network (HydRON) program. This marks a significant milestone toward the development of terabit-class optical networking in space.

Thales Alenia Space has signed a framework contract divided into different tranches with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth a total of €522m, to continue essential activities for the completion of the ExoMars 2028 mission. The contract includes the development of the Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Module (EDLM) and maintenance activities on vehicles already built for the 2022 mission.

ESA won the Space Foundation Space Award 2024. Torsten Kriening spoke with the Director General of the European Space Agency - ESA Dr Josef Aschbacher about the Euclid mission, the future of Mars exploration, the common work on the UN Space Bridge and what to learn from the US in terms of space innovation.

The Airbus-built EUTELSAT 36D telecommunications satellite has successfully launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. EUTELSAT selected Airbus in March 2021 to build EUTELSAT 36D, a new-generation multi-mission geostationary telecommunications satellite. The satellite is consequently based on the latest generation Eurostar Neo geostationary telecommunications satellite and will provide TV broadcasting (DTH) and government services over Africa, Europe and eastern countries and has a potential lifetime of more than 15 years.

Following massive budget cuts by the US Senate these last few weeks, it is evident that all Mars missions are affected. Emma Gatti talks about the reasons behind Mars missions taking a backseat, ESA's role in mission collaboration, and the future of these projects.

The Airbus-built TEXUS 60 rocket was successfully launched on Sunday, 24 March, from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. The rocket reached an apogee of 251 km and provided 362 seconds of microgravity time. The payloads on board included two DLR experiments for the German Aerospace Center (DLR), called Simona and GECO, as well as a joint experiment of DLR and the Japanese Space Agency JAXA, called Phoenix 2.