Where would we be without our GNSS-enabled car navigation systems or navigation apps on our smartphone? Space technology, particularly global navigation satellite systems like the European Galileo, is the backbone of today's mobility and transport.

But are current technologies and systems enough to meet the evolving mobility needs of the future? The European Space Agency is closely monitoring emerging technology trends and staying ahead of the curve, designing and developing the future of Galileo and EGNOS, and conceiving new missions and programmes so that European space technology continues to serve the demands of an increasingly interconnected and mobile world.

ESA has taken another important step on the road towards sustainability in space with its first in-orbit servicing mission RISE. A €119 million contract was signed with D-Orbit as the co-funding prime contractor.

ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence has taken its first images using three of the instruments that will be used to explore and study the asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos.