Join our free online Space2Connect event
Friday, 01 October 2021 09:47The first ESA virtual conference devoted entirely to telecommunications will take place between 11 October and 14 October.
Out now: ESA’s third quarter in images
Friday, 01 October 2021 09:10Out now: ESA’s third quarter in images
Earth from Space: Mackenzie River, Canada
Friday, 01 October 2021 07:00The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over the Mackenzie River, a major river system in the Canadian boreal forest. Its basin is the largest in Canada and is the second largest drainage basin of any North American river, after the Mississippi.
Trading spaces: ESA bolsters European business
Friday, 01 October 2021 07:00Yesterday, ESA’s orbiting laboratory, OPS-SAT, hosted the first-ever stock trade in space. The successful experiment required developers at Europe’s leading online broker flatexDEGIRO to think far outside of the box and adapt their software to the technical demands and constrained bandwidth found on an orbiting platform at 500 km altitude.
Trading space: ESA bolsters European business
Friday, 01 October 2021 07:00Yesterday, ESA’s orbiting laboratory, OPS-SAT, hosted the first-ever stock trade in space. The successful experiment required developers at Europe’s leading online broker flatexDEGIRO to think far outside of the box and adapt their software to the technical demands and constrained bandwidth found on an orbiting platform at 500 km altitude.
Space for climate: raising awareness ahead of COP26
Friday, 01 October 2021 05:40Ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), climate and energy ministers are coming together this week in Milan, Italy, to discuss the key political topics to be addressed at the upcoming global summit – taking place in early November in Glasgow.
ESA will be present at both the Pre-COP and COP26, highlighting the vital importance of observing our changing world from space and showing how satellite data play a critical role in underpinning climate policy.
Industry group working on satellite servicing standards
Thursday, 30 September 2021 18:20A satellite servicing industry group is making progress on a series of standards that it believes can help enable the growth of the nascent field.
DoD trying to keep China from accessing critical U.S. space technology
Thursday, 30 September 2021 16:21Chinese investments in U.S. space startups and use of Chinese software by DoD suppliers are issues of growing concern at the Pentagon, officials said.
'Planet confusion' could slow Earth-like exoplanet exploration
Thursday, 30 September 2021 15:55When it comes to directly imaging Earth-like exoplanets orbiting faraway stars, seeing isn't always believing.
A new Cornell study finds that next-generation telescopes used to see exoplanets could confuse Earth-like planets with other types of planets in the same solar system.
With today's telescopes, dim distant planets are hard to see against the glare of their host stars, but next-generation tools such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, currently under development by NASA, will be better at imaging Earth-like planets, which orbit stars at just the right distance to offer prime conditions for life.
"Once we have the capability of imaging Earth-like planets, we're actually going to have to worry about confusing them with completely different types of planets," said Dmitry Savransky, associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (College of Engineering) and the Department of Astronomy (College of Arts and Sciences).
Head in the sky: 8-year-old Brazilian girl dubbed world's youngest astronomer
Thursday, 30 September 2021 14:11When Nicole Oliveira was just learning to walk, she would throw up her arms to reach for the stars in the sky.
Today, at just eight years of age, the Brazilian girl is known as the world's youngest astronomer, looking for asteroids as part of a NASA-affiliated program, attending international seminars and meeting with her country's top space and science figures.
In Oliveira's room, filled with posters of the solar system, miniature rockets and Star Wars figures, Nicolinha, as she is affectionately known, works on her computer studying images of the sky on two large screens.
The project, called Asteroid Hunters, is meant to introduce young people to science by giving them a chance to make space discoveries of their own.
Virgin Galactic cleared to launch after US closes safety probe
Thursday, 30 September 2021 12:36Virgin Galactic said Wednesday it had been cleared for spaceflight after the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) concluded a probe into a safety "mishap" related to its high-profile mission in July that featured company founder Richard Branson. The FAA told the company it had accepted its proposed corrective actions related to the flight, which saw the SpaceShipTwo vehicle drop below its assigned
Space Force upskilling Guardians with process mapping and automation
Thursday, 30 September 2021 12:36The Space Force held its first Robotic Process Automation Workshop to explore how to effectively leverage bots to execute repetitive processes, as part of efforts to modernize the world-class fighting force at the speed of relevance. Permanent staff from the U.S. Space Force Space Operations Command, Headquarters U.S. Space Force, Air Force Personnel Center, and Air Force Reserve Personnel Cente
Recreating "real food meals" as small cubes that taste like candy
Thursday, 30 September 2021 12:36According to "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World," approximately 811 million people around the world were undernourished in 2020. Although proper nutrition is the cornerstone of good health, it is something many people still do not have access to. To help overcome this global challenge, MealCubes recreate the world's healthiest meals in the convenience of a few tasty candies t
DARPA'S Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept achieves successful flight
Thursday, 30 September 2021 12:36DARPA, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, completed a free flight test of its Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) last week. The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was released from an aircraft seconds before its Northrop Grumman scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine kicked on. The engine compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting th
NASA launches new mission to monitor Earth's landscapes
Thursday, 30 September 2021 12:36Landsat 9, a NASA satellite built to monitor the Earth's land surface, successfully launched at 2:12 p.m. EDT Monday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. A joint mission with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Landsat 9 lifted off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 3E. Norway's Svalbard satellite-monitoring ground station acquired s