• Three decades of measurements show ozone’s ups and downs

    Climate scientists studying three decades of ozone measurements from seven satellites see a positive trend in global recovery after international efforts to curb ozone-depleting substances. The part of Earth’s atmosphere with high concentrations of ozone gas…

  • Swarm-B on possible collision course with space debris

    US armed forces’ Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) has identified a close approach for ESA's Swarm-B satellite forecast to occur at 23:10 UTC on January 25, 2017. The forecast miss distance is just 361 m (1 184 feet), and this triggers a risk above the…

  • Scientists discover why satellites black out over equator

    ESA's Swarm satellite trio has discovered why GPS navigation systems on low-orbiting satellites sometimes black out when they fly over the equator between Africa and South America. Swarm itself has experienced this anomaly numerous times before its scientists…

  • ESA and Roscosmos launch ExoMars mission

    In a joint space exploration effort, ESA and Roscosmos have successfully launched their ExoMars 2016 mission to planet Mars. The spacecraft was launched aboard Russian Proton-M rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 09:31 UTC on March 14, 2016. It will…

  • European Space Agency: Preview 2016

    2016 will be another full and exciting year for the European Space Agency. This ESA TV video takes a look at what's ahead. It will be a 'Martian year' in particular with the ExoMars launch next March and with the landing of its descent module in October…

  • Russia’s manned Moon mission set for 2029 launch

    Over 45 years after losing the space race to the United States, Russia has finally announced its own manned Moon mission which is set to be launched in 2029. The mission will be preceded by multiple unmanned missions which will include orbiters and landers and will…

  • 3D Earth observations from space

    Results from a recent field campaign, which was organised to help investigate the potential of a new Earth observation mission concept, have provided a unique 3D glimpse of the peaks and troughs under the Mittelbergferner glacier in the Austrian Alps, ESA reports today.

  • Recording doomed ATV’s disintegration from inside

    In a special experiment scheduled for February 27th, ESA and NASA are planning to record, from inside, reentry and disintegration of Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATM).Every mission of ESA’s ATV ferry ends in the same way – filled with Space Station rubbish

  • Asteroid impact exercise – preparing for an asteroid impact

    In ESA's first-ever asteroid impact exercise, the agency and European disaster response offices recently rehearsed how to react if a threatening space rock is ever discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. They went through a countdown to an impact, practic