Connectivity is the invisible fabric that binds our increasingly digital world together. Most of us have experienced the disruptions caused by slow internet or its absence in remote areas. ESA acknowledges the importance of 5G and 6G technologies in ensuring reliable and comprehensive connectivity across Europe and beyond.

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The Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite lifted off on 5 September at 03:50 CEST (4 September 22:50 local time) aboard the last Vega rocket, flight VV24, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Sentinel-2C will continue the legacy of delivering high-resolution data that are essential to Copernicus – the Earth observation component of the EU Space Programme. Developed, built and operated by ESA, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission provides high-resolution optical imagery for a wide range of applications including land, water and atmospheric monitoring.

Sentinel-2C was the last liftoff for the Vega rocket – after 12 years of service this was the final

Image: Last Vega with Sentinel-2C on the launch pad

The third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite launched today aboard the final Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Sentinel-2C will continue providing high-resolution data that is essential to Copernicus – Europe’s world leading Earth observation programme.

Sentinel-2C launched into orbit on 5 September at 03:50 CEST (4 September 22:50 local time) and separated from the Vega rocket at approximately 04:48 CEST.

According to recent research, Europe’s net greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by around 25% since the 1990s. While this is good news, the study also revealed a weakening in the capacity of land and vegetation to absorb and store atmospheric carbon.

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During its recent flyby of Earth, ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) travelled through the zones of charged particles that surround our planet. These two zones are known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The inner belt is mostly full of energetic protons, and the outer belt is mostly full of energetic electrons. The region between the two belts is mostly empty. 

The high levels of radiation in the Van Allen belts makes them very dangerous for electronics and humans, but they pale in comparison to Jupiter's own radiation belts. At Jupiter, extremely energetic electrons can get through even the thickest of shielding, so they could damage Juice's scientific instruments over time. 

Juice carries a radiation monitor called RADEM to continuously measure the spacecraft's exposure

ESA is part of the Big Science Business Forum 2024 event on 1–4 October in Trieste, Italy. This is where industry and Europe’s leading science organisations, research infrastructures and their collaborators will meet to inform, network and discuss business opportunities in a market valued at nearly €10 billion annually.

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Vega joined the family of launch vehicles at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012. At 30-m tall the rocket weighs 137 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over. By rocket standards Vega is lightweight and powerful, the first three stages burn through their fuel and bringing Vega and its satellites to space in just six minutes.

Specialising in launches of small satellites to orbits flying over Earth’s poles, Vega has an impressive roster of missions that it has sent to space. Flagship ESA missions

San Francisco (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
A bill aimed at regulating powerful artificial intelligence models passed California's legislature on Wednesday, despite outcry that it could kill the technology it seeks to control. "SB 1047 - our AI safety bill - just passed off the Assembly floor. I'm proud of the diverse coalition behind this bill - a coalition that deeply believes in both innovation and safety," said Democratic stat