ESA and UN harness space data for sustainable development

When ESA’s Space Rider launches for its inaugural flight, it will carry more than scientific experiments. It will carry the bold vision of ESA’s emerging generation. Developed entirely by young professionals across the Agency, YPSat-2 is the latest mission of the Young Professionals Satellite Programme. On board is the payload Angiology in Microgravity (AIM), an innovative experiment that dives into the critical field of space medicine, studying blood flow dynamics in microgravity and its potential risks to astronaut health. From conception to construction, AIM is not only science in action, but also a hands-on mission integrating

Image: A glimpse of the distant past by Webb

2025 marks a landmark year for Europe’s ‘bridge between Earth and space’. The European Space Agency’s Estrack satellite tracking network turns 50 – and with it, its deep space antenna in Cebreros, Spain, celebrates 20 years of connecting Earth to the agency’s most distant missions.

Fittingly, this celebration of technological excellence coincides with the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II and the 50th anniversary of the ESA. To honour this convergence of milestones, ESA and the Vienna Tourist Board are orchestrating a unique mission: broadcasting The Blue Danube Waltz to its destined home among the stars.

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Media invitation: register for Living Planet Symposium 2025

Boston MA (SPX) May 26, 2025
Where did the moon's magnetism go? Scientists have puzzled over this question for decades, ever since orbiting spacecraft picked up signs of a high magnetic field in lunar surface rocks. The moon itself has no inherent magnetism today. Now, MIT scientists may have solved the mystery. They propose that a combination of an ancient, weak magnetic field and a large, plasma-generating impact ma