Copernical Team
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Asteroid Day & eight other key dates in asteroid history
Happy Asteroid Day! Today is the annual UN-recognised global event to promote public education on asteroids and planetary defence. But why today, of all days? Read on to find out – and find out the other key dates in our current golden age of asteroids!
Sentinel-1 shows ground displacement after Venezuela earthquakes
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The map is an interferogram derived from the comparison of Sentinel-1 data on two dates: on the 18 June before the earthquakes and on 25 June a day after. This Month at ESA: June 2026
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What did space have in store for Europe this month? This June, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was named pilot of NASA's Artemis III mission, Ariane 6 set a new European launch record, Proba-3 returned to operations, ESA satellites detected early signs of El Niño, Euclid unveiled its most detailed view yet of the Milky Way's galactic centre, and Sophie Adenot reached the halfway point of her εpsilon mission aboard the International Space Station.
Join us for another month of European space achievements.
From Lab to Orbit | Turning Space Science into Reality | ESA Explores #21
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Go behind the scenes at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, and discover how space experiments are prepared long before they reach orbit. Meet the ECOS team, as Deputy Manager Salvi Verma shares how they work with scientists, engineers and astronauts to turn ideas into real missions aboard the International Space Station. From early planning on the ground to supporting astronauts like ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot during her Epsilon mission, this is how space science becomes reality.
This interview was recorded in March 2026.
Solar eclipse: myth vs fact
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What really happens during a solar eclipse? ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández separates myth from fact, answering common questions and misconceptions about one of nature's most spectacular phenomena.
ESA is getting ready for three European solar eclipses. Follow this page to keep up to date with our planned activities!
Week in images: 22-26 June 2026
Week in images: 22-26 June 2026
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Desert cropland
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These Copernicus Sentinel-2 images show agricultural development in the desert of southern Egypt, close to the border with Sudan. Cave training lab
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Cave training lab Europe feels the heat beneath our feet
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This image of land surface temperature was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Wednesday, 23 June.