Copernical Team
Two new Galileo satellites enter service
Two new satellites have now officially joined Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation, strengthening its capabilities, resilience and autonomy. Four Galileo First Generation satellites remain to be launched, with the next pair planned for the end of the year.
Earth from Space: Agricultural patchwork
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The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Australia’s southwestern corner in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia. Why total solar eclipses are so special
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More than 2500 years ago, a total solar eclipse is said to have ended a war between the Lydians and the Medes. Today, we understand the science behind eclipses, but witnessing one is still one of the most awe-inspiring experiences on Earth.
In this video, discover how solar and lunar eclipses happen, why totality is so rare, and what makes a total solar eclipse so extraordinary. From ancient legends to modern ESA missions studying the Sun's corona, discover the science behind one of nature's greatest spectacles.
Discover more about the three European eclipses of 2026–2028 here.
The silicon brains steering next-generation antennas
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The silicon brains steering next-generation antennas Watch the total solar eclipse with ESA in León
Discover the science behind one of nature's most extraordinary phenomena and experience a total solar eclipse with the European Space Agency (ESA), the City of León and the University of León.
Improved reporting needed on forest carbon emissions
More analysis is needed to ensure that tropical forest degeneration and regeneration are consistently reported in carbon cycle models and in national reporting, according to a study funded in part by ESA's Climate Change Initiative Biomass project.
The study analysed how tropical forests store carbon under varying conditions and then release it back into the atmosphere. The scenarios studied range from complete forest destruction through deforestation, which is relatively well understood, to forest degradation, whereby
FLEX removed from container
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The FLEX satellite, ESA’s next Earth Explorer mission, has been removed from its container packaging at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be prepared for its upcoming launch. ExoMars ramps put up with cold, shaking and vacuum
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ExoMars ramps put up with cold, shaking and vacuum Sentinel-3C unpacked
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The next satellite in the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation satellite system, Sentinel-3C, has been unpacked from its container at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Plato's electronics ready for space
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The European Space Agency’s terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space.
This photo captures the spacecraft standing inside the special chamber. The shielded enclosure features conducting metal walls, floor, and ceiling that form a Faraday cage, screening out all external interference. Its 9 m-high interior is lined floor to ceiling with foam spikes that absorb electrical signals and sounds to mimic the void of space.
Once the chamber was sealed closed, engineers remotely switched on and