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Updated06/02/2026 20:30 
 




ESA Top News

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA Top News
ESA Top News

ESA Top News

January 21st, 2026 07:54:00 EST -0500 εpsilon
εpsilon website

εpsilon

February 6th, 2026 09:10:00 EST -0500 Week in images: 02-06 February 2026
Overhead perspective of Flaugergues Crater

Week in images: 02-06 February 2026

Discover our week through the lens

February 6th, 2026 05:00:00 EST -0500 Earth from Space: Olympic view
With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially opening today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us a striking view of northern Italy, highlighting several key Olympic venues. Image: With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially opening today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us a striking view of northern Italy, highlighting several key Olympic venues.
February 6th, 2026 05:00:00 EST -0500 Sophie Adenot ready for first space mission
Video: 00:03:58

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing to launch to the International Space Station for her first space mission: Îµpsilon.

After years of intensive training — from emergency procedures to spacewalk simulations — the countdown has begun. Flying alongside astronauts from NASA and Roscosmos, Sophie will join an international crew living and working together in space.

Aboard the ISS, Sophie will live and work in microgravity, conducting scientific research and performing a range of European- and French-led experiments that advance knowledge for life on Earth and in space.

Join us live on YouTube to watch the launch of Sophie Adenot.

February 6th, 2026 02:30:00 EST -0500 The curious case of why methane spiked around Covid
Changes in methane concentration 2019–2022

With fewer cars on the road, planes in the air and factories running, the skies seemed cleaner during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while there was a decline in pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, scientists were surprised to see that methane surged in the early 2020s and then dropped – and now they know why.

February 5th, 2026 10:55:00 EST -0500 A presidential greeting ahead of Sophie Adenot's first spaceflight

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher joined French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace for an event celebrating the first spaceflight of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot.

February 4th, 2026 05:00:00 EST -0500 Explore Mars’s Flaugergues Crater
Overhead perspective of Flaugergues Crater

ESA’s Mars Express takes us on a journey across the southern highlands of Mars, including a flight around Flaugergues Crater.

February 3rd, 2026 10:00:00 EST -0500 ESA's sustainability ambition
Video: 00:04:21

Space activities are unlike any others. They interact not just with Earth, but with three interconnected environments: Earth, Earth’s orbit, and the Moon and deep space. On Earth, we aim to reduce the space sector’s environmental impacts while maximising the societal and environmental benefits of our missions. In orbit, we manage space debris and collision risks to maintain safe and secure operations. For the Moon and deep space, we are laying the foundations to minimise the impact of our missions on and around other celestial bodies.

Guided by our core values, ESA is committed to making its activities more sustainable, redefining how space activities are conceived, executed and shared with the world. Our objective is clear: to address the most pressing challenges and implement ambitious changes, both in our own practices and in close collaboration with our partners.

Looking ahead, in support of Strategy 2040, ESA is determined to lead through ambition, action and collaboration, building a future where space is not only a domain of opportunity but also a model of sustainability, responsibility and global unity.

February 2nd, 2026 11:12:00 EST -0500 Moving satellites to meet a plane for rare reentry data
Four-satellite Cluster mission

When satellites eventually fall back down to Earth, they mostly burn up because of the friction caused by the atmosphere. Scientific data about this atmospheric reentry process is urgently needed to design future satellites for a quick, safe and sustainable demise at the end of their mission – reducing risks on the ground and in space.

The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully manoeuvred its remaining two Cluster satellites to ensure they can both be observed from a plane as they reenter the atmosphere on 31 August and 1 September 2026.