ESA Mission Archive

ExoMars

ExoMars, short for Exobiology on Mars, is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Roscosmos State Corporation including two separate launches to deploy an orbiter and stationary lander to Mars followed by a lander and rover. The mission is primarily dedicated to the search for biosignatures on Mars to provide firm evidence of past or present life on Earth's neighbor in the solar system.

LISA Pathfinder

The LISA Pathfinder Mission demonstrates critical technologies for the upcoming eLISA mission that sets out to accomplish the first ever measurement of gravitational waves - ripples in the curvature of space-time. This measurement requires highly precise instruments to be able to detect passing gravitational waves, traveling at the speed of light and the Pathfinder mission will deliver valuable information for the development of one of the most ambitious science missions ever attempted.

Meteosat 2nd Gen.

The Meteosat Second Generation Satellites operate from Geostationary Orbit to deliver near real-time imagery across a range of wavelengths for application in operational meteorology in Europe.

IXV

ESA’s IXV, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, is a testbed for flight-testing of technologies for spacecraft re-entry. The spacecraft uses a lifting-body design with no wings, a thermal protection system, and two flaps that are used to provide control during re-entry. IXV performed a sub-orbital test mission in February 2015 to gather data on the behavior of the various systems and components in the operational re-entry environment to pave the way for the development of new innovative spacecraft with return capability.

Galileo

The Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) Satellites build Europe’s Galileo Satellite Navigation System to provide the European Union with an independent Global Navigation Satellite System.

Gaia

Gaia is a space observatory operated by the European Space Agency that sets out to create a 3D space catalog of 1 billion stars – determining star positions, distances and star motion at an unprecedented accuracy. Also, the spacecraft continues the search for extra-solar planetary systems, asteroids and distant quasars. In addition, Gaia takes a look at fundamental physics, testing Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

Copernicus Program

The Sentinel Satellite Fleet is part of the Copernicus program – the European Commission's Earth Observation Program formerly known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). Copernicus aims to achieve an autonomous and operational Earth observation capacity.

Swarm

Swarm is a European Space Agency Mission dedicated to studying Earth’s magnetic field by making high-precision and high-resolution measurements of the strength of the magnetic field and the magnetic field vector with high spatial and temporal resolution to examine variations of the field.

ESA News

Sentinel-3B Land & Ocean-Sensing Satellite Delivered to Orbit by Russian Rockot Booster
Arianespace Copernicus Earth Observation ESA Featured Launch News Newsfeed Sentinel 

Sentinel-3B Land & Ocean-Sensing Satellite Delivered to Orbit by Russian Rockot Booster

Patrick Blau Comments Off on Sentinel-3B Land & Ocean-Sensing Satellite Delivered to Orbit by Russian Rockot Booster

Europe’s Copernicus Earth Observation Constellation welcomed its seventh member on Wednesday after the Sentinel-3B ocean- and land-sensing satellite received a smooth ride to orbit atop a Russian ballistic-missile-turned-space-launcher.

Photos: Converted Ballistic Missile Launches from Russia with Sentinel-3B Observation Satellite
Copernicus Earth Observation ESA News Newsfeed Photos Sentinel 

Photos: Converted Ballistic Missile Launches from Russia with Sentinel-3B Observation Satellite

Patrick Blau Comments Off on Photos: Converted Ballistic Missile Launches from Russia with Sentinel-3B Observation Satellite

A Rockot/Briz-KM launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome on April 25, 2018 at 17:57:52 UTC with the Sentinel-3B satellite set to join Europe’s Copernicus Constellation as its seventh member.

Video: Russian Rockot Booster Blasts Off with Sentinel-3B
Arianespace Copernicus Earth Observation ESA News Sentinel Videos 

Video: Russian Rockot Booster Blasts Off with Sentinel-3B

Patrick Blau Comments Off on Video: Russian Rockot Booster Blasts Off with Sentinel-3B

A Rockot/Briz-KM launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome on April 25, 2018 at 17:57:52 UTC with the Sentinel-3B satellite set to join Europe’s Copernicus Constellation as its seventh member.

Sentinel-3B Satellite to Join Copernicus Constellation via Launch on Rockot Booster
Copernicus Earth Observation ESA Featured News Newsfeed Sentinel 

Sentinel-3B Satellite to Join Copernicus Constellation via Launch on Rockot Booster

Patrick Blau Comments Off on Sentinel-3B Satellite to Join Copernicus Constellation via Launch on Rockot Booster

Europe’s Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday with a Russian Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.

Trace Gas Orbiter Concludes Aerobraking ahead of Final Orbit Trimming, Science Operations
ESA Featured Interplanetary Mars News Newsfeed Roscosmos Russia 

Trace Gas Orbiter Concludes Aerobraking ahead of Final Orbit Trimming, Science Operations

Patrick Blau Comments Off on Trace Gas Orbiter Concludes Aerobraking ahead of Final Orbit Trimming, Science Operations

ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter circling Mars since October 2016 this week finished a delicate aero-braking campaign of nearly one year that moved the spacecraft from a highly elliptical orbit into a nearly circular Low Mars Orbit in preparation for a final set of trimming maneuvers and the start of a highly anticipated science mission.

X