https://spacewatch.global/tag/esa/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:54:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/tag/esa/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/esa-and-european-commission-open-up-flight-ticket-initiative-to-more-european-launch-service-providers/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75237 The  European Space Agency and the European Commission are inviting launch service providers across Europe to apply to join the European Flight Ticket Initiative, offering new opportunities to participate in upcoming missions. Under the Flight Ticket Initiative, European launch service providers compete to deliver missions for In-orbit Demonstration and Validation satellite which test new space technologies in orbit. The joint ESA, European Commission initiative aims to strengthen Europe’s access to space through open and competitive calls. ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/spacewatchgl-orbital-venturing-chapter-3-max-q-in-start-ups-funding-journey/ Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75206
Written by Jascha Langenberg
Why the "Bus Factor" matters to investors: discover why founder dependency is a hidden risk in space start-ups and how it shapes scaling and venture capital decisions.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/berlins-space-reset-the-government-only-succeeds-if-industry-succeeds/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75179 At a Berlin CEO roundtable held under the Chatham House rule, Germany's space leadership and industry struck a note of rare alignment - but the closing message was a challenge: strategies and signatures mean nothing unless companies deliver. The government only succeeds if industry succeeds, and Germany's international credibility rides on it.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/vyomas-flamingo-1-space-based-surveillance-telescope-is-set-to-begin-routine-operations/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75191 Germany's Vyoma has completed in-space commissioning of Flamingo-1 - Europe's first large-aperture telescope for space-based surveillance - ahead of round-the-clock operations.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-the-price-of-success-when-orbit-becomes-a-problem-space-debris-liability-and-cleanup/ Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75145 At ILA 2026, ESA's Dr. Holger Krag, DLR's Dr. Manuel Metz and BHO Legal's Katharina Prall join Space.Table's Nicola Kuhrt to confront the space-debris challenge — the scale of the threat, who's liable, and how mitigation, active removal and new law can keep our orbits usable.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-mous-are-nice-contracts-pay-the-bills-the-german-space-mittelstand-speaks/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75136 At ILA 2026, HPS CEO Dr. Ernst Pfeiffer joins SpaceWatch.Global's Torsten Kriening to give the German space Mittelstand a voice — on the gap between MoUs and contracts, the €35 billion reality, a neglected national programme, and the funding needed for Europe's road to the Moon.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-a-german-passport-to-the-moon-europe-in-the-new-artemis-architecture-after-ignition/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75133 At ILA 2026, DLR's Dr. Walther Pelzer joins Space.Table's Ralf Nestler to discuss Europe's place in the new Artemis architecture after NASA's "Ignition" reset — a German passport to the Moon, the European Service Module, Argonaut, sovereignty and the future of the ISS.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/esa-selects-nuviews-moonraker-mission-for-lunar-terrain-mapping-with-lidar-technology/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 07:08:04 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=75078 ESA has selected NUVIEW's Moonraker mission for a Phase A study - a LiDAR spacecraft to generate high-resolution 3D terrain maps of the Moon's polar regions for future landing sites.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/69th-copuos-2026-one-shot-one-asteroid-inside-esas-ramses-mission-with-paolo-martino/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74873 From the 69th Session of COPUOS in Vienna, ESA's RAMSES Project Manager Paolo Martino joins Judith Delany to explain humanity's one-shot mission to asteroid Apophis — the rare 2029 close encounter, the race to launch by April 2028, and a global team of 120+ entities working to turn a once-in-a-generation event into planetary defense science.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-sovereignty-security-space-inside-germanys-new-ambition-with-dorothee-baer/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74975 At ILA 2026, Germany's Minister for Research, Technology and Space, Dorothee Baer, joins Space.Table's Nicola Kuhrt to discuss sovereignty, security, dual use, budgets and the national space law — and previews a new programme for young people.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-day-1-who-is-allowed-to-see-the-earth-the-hidden-law-of-watching-the-planet/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74885 At ILA 2026, ESA's Prof. Kai-Uwe Schrogl joins SpaceWatch.Global's Torsten Kriening to answer a deceptively simple question — who is allowed to see the Earth? — unpacking the Outer Space Treaty, shutter control, dual use and the future of Earth observation law.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-the-goal-is-the-moon-surface-esa-dg-josef-aschbacher-on-europes-moment-in-space/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74879 From ILA 2026 in Berlin, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher joins Torsten Kriening to celebrate a European astronaut on the next Artemis mission, share candid hopes of reaching the lunar surface, mark 140+ Zero Debris Charter signatories, and explain ESA's growing role in security and defense.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-simonetta-cheli-on-sentinel-next-generation-copernicus-and-watching-a-changing-planet/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74877 From ILA 2026 in Berlin, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli joins Torsten Kriening to mark the first next-generation Sentinel-1 contract, explain the Switzerland–Copernicus situation, and showcase the deep synergy between ESA and national missions watching over a changing planet.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/space-forge-secures-10m-to-accelerate-development-of-its-pridwen-orbital-payload-reentry-heat-shield/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74854 Space Forge has secured £10 million from ESA to develop Pridwen, a fold-out heat shield for safe spacecraft reentry and satellite recovery, following its successful ForgeStar-1 mission.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-marco-esposito-on-the-apophis-mission-going-european-and-cameras-that-save-lives/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:45:35 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74822 cosine has just signed a contract to deliver a hyperspectral camera for ESA's RAMSES mission - the rendezvous with asteroid Apophis as it makes its exceptionally close pass by Earth in 2029, a genuinely once-in-a-generation event. ]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/eu-partners-member-states-to-strengthen-europes-role-in-the-orbital-economy-with-isos-pilot-mission/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74813 The European Union has signed a joint declaration together with Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway in support of the In-Space Operations and Services (ISOS) pilot mission, a step towards a European in-orbit service infrastructure. Signed at at the International Airshow in Berlin, the declaration comes as the European Commission advances plans for a new pilot mission to perform servicing tasks in orbit.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/ila-2026-live-stream-lunar-ambitions-space-sustainability-and-day-3-insights-from-the-space-cafe/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74828 The exploration conversation continues live from ILA Berlin 2026. As international ambitions for the Moon and Mars accelerate, exploration is increasingly about more than rockets and astronauts. It is about building the technologies, infrastructure, and sustainable operating concepts that will enable humanity to live and work beyond Earth.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/spacewatchgl-analysis-allied-by-design-part-2-what-americas-cislunar-ambitions-mean-for-europe/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74695
Written by Christophe Bosquillon
As the U.S. Space Force expands its focus beyond GEO and into cislunar space, Europe faces difficult questions about sovereignty, industrial capacity, defence cooperation, and its long-term role in the emerging Earth-Moon economy.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/introducing-storm-the-exploration-companys-high-thrust-european-engine-program/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74745 At the ongoing ILA 2026 exhibition in Berlin, The Exploration Company (TEC) has introduced Storm, a high thrust rocket engine program designed to advance Europe’s capabilities in modern propulsion through disciplined, hardware driven development.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/06/cosine-italia-signs-two-contracts-at-ila-berlin-2026-covering-deep-space-exploration-and-earth-observation/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=74758 cosine Italia signed two contracts live at ILA Berlin - the HAMLET spectral imager for ESA's RAMSES mission to Apophis, and three TSCOUT instruments for the Canary Islands Constellation.]]>