Our next space science mission is about to begin its space adventure.

After more than 10 years of designing, developing, building and testing, Smile is now ready for action.

Its ride to space will be a Vega-C rocket, departing from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 9 April. The rocket will drop Smile off in a circular orbit 700 km above Earth’s surface.

Smile will then fire its own engines 11 times, taking itself higher and higher above the North Pole. From there, it will use X-ray and ultraviolet vision to watch how Earth defends itself from streams of particles

Week in images: 04-08 May 2026

Discover our week through the lens

How can Earth observation data play a more central role in guiding future decisions on the environment? This was one of the questions asked at an ESA-hosted event that brought together leaders from Earth observation science with the global statistics community.

The third ESA Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum (ESA CommEO) will bring together the global Earth observation ecosystem for three days of insights, innovation and high-level networking. It takes place in Seville, Spain, from 12–14 May 2026, but you can join selected sessions online to hear about the latest trends arising in the Earth observation commercial market.  

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to deepen collaboration in planetary defence, alongside a dedicated agreement for collaboration on the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) to the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

This latest Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features Messier 77 (M77), a barred spiral galaxy famous among astronomers for its combination of relative proximity and spectacular features to study. It is located 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). This new image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) highlights its swirling spiral arms, the dust in its disc and its piercingly bright core like never before.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is using Extended Reality (XR) to support training, enhance operations, improve simulation environments, and to bring the wonders of space to the public.

In the far northern reaches of Finnish Lapland, an ambitious new chapter in Earth observation is unfolding. The European Space Agency, together with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and Finnish industrial partners, is advancing plans to develop a state-of-the-art ‘supersite’ in Sodankylä.

The plan is to equip this remote site with an array of new advanced environmental measuring technologies, including a striking high-tech airship carrying sensors to perform regional surveys.