Tag: ESA
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Ariane 6 launches the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite
Arianespace, Europe’s long-standing primary launch provider, flew the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite aboard the third Ariane 6 launch of 2025. The flight, only the fourth ever flown by the Ariane 6, successfully launched on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 21:02 UTC from ELA-4 at the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana. All Ariane 6 flights…
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Launch Roundup: Ariane 6 flies, Atlas V and New Glenn both scrub during busy week
This week’s launch manifest featured twelve missions launching on nine different rockets, including the first attempt of the second launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. This roundup covers an eight-day period, from Monday, Nov. 3, to Monday, Nov. 10. In addition to four Falcon 9 missions from SpaceX, an Ariane 62, New Glenn, Chang…
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Airbus, Leonardo and Thales agree to form new European company
Technicians with the European Space Agency and Airbus/Airbus Netherlands are shown performing an illumination test on one of the solar array wing panels during installation on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 30, 2020. The solar…
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Scientists use Cassini data to discover new molecules in Enceladus water jets
Located around Saturn is the icy moon Enceladus — one of the most interesting and potentially habitable moons in the solar system. NASA’s Cassini mission extensively studied Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017 and, in 2005, revealed large geyser-like jets extending from Enceladus’ south pole. Later studies would suggest that a massive subsurface…
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XRISM observes windy neutron star, Chandra studies a luminous quasar
Using the joint Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), scientists uncovered a dense but surprisingly slow wind coming from a neutron star. The finding sheds new light on similar winds blowing from material surrounding supermassive black holes. Another team used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory…
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PERSEI Space to test tether solution for orbital mobility
In the increasingly crowded corridors of low-Earth orbit, a Spanish company is pioneering technology that could revolutionize how satellites operate. PERSEI Space has developed an elegant solution to two of the space industry’s most pressing challenges: the proliferation of orbital debris and the limitations of conventional propulsion systems. PERSEI Space has been selected for the…
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Launch Roundup: Vulcan and Ariane launch ahead of Starlink missions
After a week of weather delays across the U.S, launch cadence increases as providers strive to catch up with the backlog. An Ariane 6 carrying a weather satellite launched ahead of a navigational technology satellite and a classified payload launched atop Vulcan. A Chinese Chang Zheng 5B rocket also launched on Wednesday. Three Falcon 9…
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Hera observes asteroids as DART reveals more about its destination
Travelling through the asteroid belt, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has taken its first images of asteroids. The spacecraft is heading toward asteroid 65803 Didymos and its companion Dimorphos, on a mission to study the results of an intentional collision between NASA’s DART spacecraft and Dimorphos. The new images validate Hera’s capabilities to lock…
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Webb reveals structures in planetary nebula, sheds new light on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
The joint NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope recently observed the remnants of a dying star shedding its outer layers. The resulting colorful cloud is known as a planetary nebula, and structures in this nebula revealed by Webb hint at the presence of a companion star. Meanwhile, a team of scientists used…
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How Pangea is reshaping rocket propulsion by reigniting the aerospike design
The Spanish and French company Pangea is positioning itself as a go-to propulsion company within the aerospace industry. It first drew attention in 2021 with a successful demonstration of an aerospike engine in Germany. Four years on, testing is already underway for its larger, reusable Arcos engine, which is on course to become the first…