This week a unique, combined team of specialists are conducting final training at ESA’s ESOC mission control centre to prepare for the 24 May launch of Europe’s next Galileo satellites – a dual launch on a Soyuz rocket from Kourou. The team comprises over 40 experts drawn from ESA and from France’s CNES space agency, … Dowiedz się więcej
A start-up company hosted in an ESA business incubator is developing the world’s first vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for personal use. The electric two-seater will open the door to a new class of simpler, quieter and environmentally friendly planes available from 2018. “Our goal is to develop an aircraft for use in everyday life,” … Dowiedz się więcej
Launched on 25 April from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, Sentinel-1B has produced its first images only two hours after the radar was switched on – a record time for a space radar. The first observations were taken a little more than two days after launch, on 28 April at 05:37 GMT, after Sentinel-1B had … Dowiedz się więcej
The second Sentinel-1 satellite – Sentinel-1B – was launched today to provide more ‘radar vision’ for Europe’s environmental Copernicus programme. Sentinel-1B lifted off on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST), separating from the rocket’s Fregat upper stage 23 min 35 sec later. Sentinel-1B joins its identical … Dowiedz się więcej
In March, Europe’s new era of Mars exploration begins with the launch of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli. After a seven-month journey through space, Schiaparelli will separate from the orbiter on 16 October and head towards the planet’s surface, where it will land three days later, on Meridiani Planum. Meanwhile, the orbiter will … Dowiedz się więcej
The third ESA-developed satellite carrying four Earth-observing instruments was launched today (16.02), ready to provide a ‘bigger picture’ for Europe’s Copernicus environment programme. The 1150 kg Sentinel-3A satellite was carried into orbit on a Rockot launcher from Plesetsk, Russia, at 17:57 GMT (18:57 CET; 20:57 local time) on 16 February. After a first burn starting … Dowiedz się więcej