The double-satellite Proba-3 is the most ambitious member yet of ESA’s Proba family of experimental missions. Two spacecraft will fly together as one, maintaining precise formation down to a single millimetre. One will block out the fiery disc of the Sun for the other, to enable prolonged observations of the Sun’s surrounding atmosphere, or ‘corona’, the source of the solar wind and space weather. Usually, the corona can only be glimpsed for a few minutes during terrestrial total solar eclipses.
Proba-3 aims to reproduce such eclipses for up to six hours at a time, in a highly elliptical orbit taking it more than 60 000 km from Earth. The two spacecraft are being launched together by India’s PSLV-XL launcher from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
ESA’s EarthCARE satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US, on 29 May at 00:20 CEST (28 May, 15:20 local time).
Developed as a cooperation between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer satellite carries a set of four instruments to make a range of different measurements that together will shed new light on the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth’s climate.
ESA’s EarthCARE mission is ready for lift-off! EarthCARE is a groundbreaking satellite mission designed to unravel the mysteries of Earth’s clouds and aerosols. EarthCARE will shed light on the role that clouds and aerosols play in heating and cooling Earth’s atmosphere – contributing to our better understanding of climate change. During our live coverage, we’ll hear from mission scientists and spacecraft operators, then follow the launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from California, expected at 00:20 CEST. Live from ESA’s spacecraft operations centre in Germany, we take you into the main control room around 01:12 CEST for the satellite’s acquisition of signal – EarthCARE’s first sign of life from space.
Credits: ESA/SpaceX
Timestaps of the video: 00:00 – 38:24 – Start of ESA WebTV Programme – Live from the European Space Operations Centre 38:25 – 50:44 – SpaceX live broadcast begins 50:45 – 1:01:40 – Lift-off 1:01:41 – 1:06:35 – Spacecraft deployment 1:06:36 – 1:40:40 – Stay tuned 1:40:41 – 1:44:50 – ESA WebTV Programme – Live from the European Space Operations Centre 1:44:51 – 1:55:00 – Acquisition of signal
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Air pollution is the largest environmental health risk in Europe and significantly impacts the health of the European population, particularly in urban areas.
Following on from the Sentinel-5P satellite – the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere – the Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 missions will take current air quality measuring capabilities to the next level.
Together, the Sentinel-4 and -5 missions will provide information on atmospheric variables in support of European policies. This will include the monitoring of air quality, stratospheric ozone and solar radiation, and climate monitoring.
This video features interviews with Giorgio Bagnasco, Sentinel-4 Mission Project Manager, Ben Veilhelmann, Sentinel-4&5 Mission Scientist and Didier Martin, Sentinel-5 Mission Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Climate change exacerbates droughts by making them more frequent, longer, and more severe. This can have a wide range of impacts on the environment, agriculture, ecosystems and communities including water scarcity, crop failure and food shortages.
The upcoming Copernicus Land Surface Temperature Monitoring, LSTM, mission will improve sustainable agricultural productivity in a world of increasing water scarcity and variability.
The mission will carry a high spatial-temporal resolution thermal infrared sensor to provide observations of land-surface temperature.
These data are key to understand and respond to climate variability, manage water resources for agricultural production, predict droughts and also to address land degradation.
LSTM is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Ana Bolea Alamanac, LSTM Mission Project Manager, Ilias Manolis, LSTM Mission Payload Manager and Itziar Barat, LSTM Mission System and Operations Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The upcoming Copernicus Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band (ROSE-L) will provide continuous day-and-night all-weather monitoring of Earth’s land, oceans and ice, and offer frequent images at a high spatial resolution.
ROSE-L will carry an active phased array synthetic aperture radar instrument. The radar antenna will be the largest planar antenna ever built measuring an impressive 40 sq m – roughly the size of 10 ping-pong tables.
ROSE-L will deliver essential information on forests and land cover, leading to improved monitoring of the terrestrial carbon cycle and carbon accounting.
The mission will also greatly extend our ability to monitor minute surface displacements and helping detect geohazards. It will automatically map surface soil moisture conditions and monitor sea and land ice – greatly helping climate change research and mitigation.
ROSE-L is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Malcolm Davidson, ROSE-L Mission Scientist, Nico Gebert, ROSE-L Payload Manager and Gianluigi Di Cosimo, ROSE-L Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Chiara’s favourite satellite image is a rare (and almost cloud-free) view of the remote Elephant Island, in Antarctica.
This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image was captured a year ago and the full image has a 10 m resolution!
Do you agree with Chiara’s choice?
📸 Italy, South Georgia Island, Elephant Island: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016, 2018, 2023), processed by ESA, Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global agricultural production will need to increase by 60% by 2050 to meet the food demands of the growing global population.
A new satellite called Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment, or CHIME, is being developed to support EU policies on the management of natural resources – ultimately helping to address the global issue of food security.
CHIME will carry a unique visible to shortwave infrared spectrometer to provide routine hyperspectral observations to support new and enhanced services for sustainable agricultural and biodiversity management, as well as soil property characterisation.
CHIME is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Marco Celesti, CHIME Mission Scientist and Jens Nieke, CHIME Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Tracking ice lost from the world’s glaciers, ice sheets and frozen land shows that Earth is losing ice at an accelerating rate. Monitoring the cryosphere is crucial for assessing, predicting and adapting to climate change.
The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) mission will provide a full picture of the changes taking place in some of the most inhospitable regions of the world. It will carry – for the first time – a dual-frequency radar altimeter, and microwave radiometer, that will measure and monitor sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth and ice-sheet elevations.
These data will support maritime operations in the polar oceans and contribute to a better understanding of climate processes. CRISTAL will also support applications related to coastal and inland waters, as well as providing observations of ocean topography.
CRISTAL is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Kristof Gantois, CRISTAL Project Manager and Paolo Cipollini, CRISTAL Mission Scientist.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Arctic is experiencing disproportionately higher temperature increases compared to the rest of the planet, triggering a series of cascading effects. This rapid warming has profound implications for global climate patterns, human populations and wildlife.
The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer mission (CIMR) will provide measurements to decision makers with evidence of change and impact in the polar regions – with a focus on the Arctic.
The mission has the largest radiometer developed by ESA and will provide high-resolution measurements related to sea ice, the ocean, snow and ice-sheet surfaces. This will be crucial in understanding the evolution of the climate in the polar region.
CIMR is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Craig Donlon, CIMR Mission Scientist, Rolv Midthassel, CIMR Payload Manager, Claudio Galeazzi, CIMR Project Manager, Mariel Triggianese, CIMR Satellite Engineering and AIV Manager, and Marcello Sallusti, CIMR System Performance and Operations Manager.
In the meantime Craig has changed his role but will retain his position as Mission Scientist.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Satellite communication underpins everyday life, enabling fundamental improvements not just in communication, but also in transport, healthcare, safety and security, environmental services and many other industries.
The Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) 4.0 programme enables European and Canadian industry to explore, through research and development, innovative concepts that stimulates the wider economy, creating new business and jobs across almost every industry. ARTES 4.0 supports the production of market-leading and cutting-edge products and services within a fiercely competitive global satellite communications market.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
2022 was a year of many ‘firsts’ for space in Europe, seeing the first European female International Space Station commander, the launch of the first Vega-C rocket, the launch of the first Artemis mission working to bring humans back to the Moon, and first images from the James Webb Space Telescope among many other success stories and lessons learned.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
2022 was a year of many ‘firsts’ for space in Europe, seeing the first European female ISS commander, the launch of the first Vega-C rocket, Solar Orbiter’s first close encounter with our home star, the launch of the first Artemis mission working to bring humans back to the Moon, and first images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Let’s take a look at the highlights and accomplishments of the European Space Agency during 2022.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our 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. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
