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esa.int
European Space Agency
@esa.int
52K followers 120 following 440 posts
#50YearsOfESA: we're the European Space Agency, keeping you posted on European space activities. Please see our Privacy Notice: https://esa.int/connectwithus
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 1d
☄️ 🔭 #3I/ATLAS comet update!

On 3 October, our ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) turned its eyes towards interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passed close to Mars.

Read more: esa.int/Science_Expl...
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 1d
🌎 🛰️ Check out the first data from the METimage instrument on board EUMETSAT's MetOp-SG-A1 satellite!

This advanced instrument observes clouds, land, sea and ice, providing key insights into weather forecasting, nowcasting, and climate monitoring. eumetsat.int/metimage-del...

📸 @eumetsat.int
Captured between 10:43 and 10:59 CEST on 24 September, METimage’s very first image shows clouds connected with a cold weather front sweeping across central Europe and signs of convective storm activity developing over the Adriatic and central Mediterranean seas. High altitude, wispy cirrus clouds hint to potential turbulence over the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, while thin aircraft contrails are clearly visible over cloud-free western Denmark. Where skies are clear, the Earth’s surface is revealed in fine detail: shimmering lakes can be seen in Türkiye, including the bright white salt flats of Lake Tuz, as well as the green landscapes of the Carpathians and Balkans, and Libya’s Waw an Namus volcanic caldera. Compared with AVHRR’s ~1 km resolution, METimage’s 500-metre view delivers about four times more detail, making it possible to pick out narrow cloud streets, thin valley fog and subtle coastal colour changes with far greater clarity.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
technology.esa.int
ESA Technology @technology.esa.int · 1d
🛰️🖥️ Training new operators for the Large Space Simulator, Europe’s largest vacuum chamber, used to be tricky… but not anymore! The simulator recently got a digital twin - a very realistic virtual model - which will serve as a training tool and much more 👉 www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
The cavernous chamber of the Large Space Simulator
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 2d
Hubble has identified more than 80 potential star clusters within NGC 6951’s ring. Though many stars are under 100 million years old, the ring may be 1–1.5 billion years old!

🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
Starbursting centre
Starbursting centre
esahubble.org
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 2d
✨ NGC 6951: a starbusting spiral galaxy.

Nestled away at its core, NGC 6951 has another remarkable feature: a white-blue ring that encloses the very heart of the galaxy.

The dense gas in this starburst ring is the perfect environment to churn out an impressive number of stars.
A spiral galaxy with large, open arms. A bar of yellow light, where old stars are gathered, crosses the middle of the disk. The very centre is a white point surrounded by a small, shining ring of star clusters. Thin lanes of dust swirl around this ring, reaching out to follow the spiral arms; also visible across the arms are red, glowing spots where stars are forming. To the right a star shines large and bright.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
operations.esa.int
ESA Operations @operations.esa.int · 2d
Asteroid 2025 TF flew over Antarctica at 00:47:26 UTC ± 18 s on 1 October, coming as close as 428 ± 7 km to Earth’s surface.

This is a similar altitude to the orbit of the International Space Station, and one of the closest approaches ever recorded.

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
ESA spots asteroid that made very close approach to Earth
ESA spots asteroid that made very close approach to Earth
www.esa.int
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 4d
We've expanded our capability to communicate with scientific, exploration and space safety missions across the Solar System with the inauguration of a new 35-m diameter antenna in Australia – the fourth in our Estrack deep-space tracking network.

www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @operations.esa.int
Floodlit in blue, the new ESA 35-metre deep space antenna – the fourth of its kind - will be joining the existing one at New Norcia station, Australia.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
operations.esa.int
ESA Operations @operations.esa.int · 4d
📡#Estrack is growing! Today we join you from Australia for the inauguration for the Agency's fourth deep space antenna.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 4d
Estrack, keeps an eye on satellites no matter their location: tracking them across Earth orbit, voyaging to comets or asteroids and deep into our Solar System. It even keeps tabs on European launchers as they soar into orbit, ensuring no rocket is ever out of reach.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 4d
Estrack: tracking satellites at the speed of light ✨

Today, we expanded our deep space communication capabilities with the construction of a new 35-metre deep space antenna at New Norcia station, Australia, to help meet our fast increasing data download needs.

🔗 esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
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Reposted by European Space Agency
exploration.esa.int
ESA Exploration @exploration.esa.int · 5d
📢 New episode featuring @esa's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover!

🍿 Watch the most sophisticated laboratory set to work on Mars in action. Like a factory floor, an automated sequence drives samples through the lab.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuh8...
Sample processing | ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission (episode 4)
YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by European Space Agency
science.esa.int
ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 7d
🆕 The discovery of new complex organic molecules at Saturn's #Enceladus enhances the likelihood that the moon is habitable 🪐

On Earth, these molecules are involved in chemical reaction chains that lead to the more complex molecules essential for life.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Scientific illustration showing a cross-section of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It features three labelled layers: An ice shell at the top, with visible cracks releasing jets of water vapour into space; an ocean in the middle, depicted as a large body of water beneath the ice; a rocky core at the bottom, shown emitting heat that may drive the jets. In the background, Saturn and its rings are visible in space.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 7d
🌍 Global collaboration in action at #IAC2025

Find out what you missed on day 3 at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney:
esa.int/About_Us/Exh...
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Reposted by European Space Agency
esaconnectivity.esa.int
ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications @esaconnectivity.esa.int · 7d
Did you know that 7 million unencrypted data records are compromised every day?😯🔒

ESA’s SAGA will distribute space-enabled secure quantum keys to protect governmental data.🛰️

ESA signs with @thalesaleniaspace.bsky.social to move to the next phase.

👉 www.esa.int/Applications...
Advancing Europe’s quantum secure communications from space
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a €50 million contract with aerospace company Thales Alenia Space to begin the preliminary design phase of the Security And cryptoGrAphic (SAGA) mission. Thi...
www.esa.int
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 7d
ESA 🤝 KASA

We have announced with the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) that we will work together on peaceful uses of space, starting with space weather monitoring and sharing space communications facilities.

🔗 esa.int/About_Us/Cor...
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 8d
G'day Australia! 🚀🦘

Europe and Australia share a long history in space activities and we are now looking to the future at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia.

Read more ➡️ esa.int/About_Us/Exh...

#IAC2025
ESA at IAC 2025 - highlights from Day 2
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) will pursue new ways of working together following discussions during the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Aus...
esa.int
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Reposted by European Space Agency
science.esa.int
ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 8d
Stars in our galaxy make a stadium wave, Gaia finds 🙌

Our Milky Way galaxy never sits still: it rotates and wobbles 🌀

But #ESAGaia has just revealed that our galaxy also has a giant wave rippling outwards from its centre 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪 ☄️
This image consists of two sides. Left side: A top-down view of a spiral galaxy is shown. It has a bright central bulge with several spiral arms radiating outward. Overlaid on the lower part of the galaxy is a data visualisation, with colours ranging from blue to red. A label reading ‘Sun’ marks a specific location within this overlay. Right side: An edge-on view of the same spiral galaxy is presented. It reveals the galaxy's thin disc and central bulge from the side. Coloured points are scattered along the disc, representing the same data as the overlay on the left side. The image features a dark background with a thin, bright horizontal line running across the centre. This is our galaxy’s disc. Above and below this line, numerous white arrows point upward and downward. These arrows vary in length and are spread evenly along the line. Scattered among the arrows are small red and blue dots. The visual resembles an astronomical data visualisation, illustrating positions and motions of stars in our galaxy.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
josefaschbacher.esa.int
Josef Aschbacher @josefaschbacher.esa.int · 9d
Yesterday we opened #IAC2025 in Sydney 🐨
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Reposted by European Space Agency
science.esa.int
ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 9d
Moon formation drama, a bit more understood 🌚

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has found evidence of a ‘construction yard’ for moons around a large exoplanet, CT Cha b, which lies 625 light-years from Earth.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪 ☄️
This is an illustration of a young planet with a surrounding disc of dust and gas, potentially forming moons. The planet, which appears red, is shown at lower right, enveloped by a cloudy disc. The host star appears at upper left, and glows yellow, with its own reddish disc of debris. The black background of space is speckled with stars. At the bottom of the illustration, graphics of molecules are listed in the following order: Acetylene, Carbon Dioxide, Ethane, Benzene, Hydrogen cyanide.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
transport.esa.int
ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 9d
Contract for a reuseable upper stage demonstration mission signed at IAC ✍️

@esa.int and Avio signed a contract for 24-months of development activities aiming at the in-flight demonstration of a reusable upper stage.
A ceremonial contract signing event is taking place, highlighting a collaboration on the "Reusable Upper Stage Demonstrator Activities." Two key representatives: ESA's Director of Space Transportation Toni Tolker-Nielsen (left) and Avio’s Chief Commercial Officer and Launch Services Director Marino Fragnito (right), both seated at a table, signing the agreement. The table is decorated with miniature flags symbolising international cooperation. ESA's Chief Technical Advisor for Space Transportation Giorgio Tumino stands nearby, observing the proceedings. Behind them, a large screen displays the event title and participant names, with ESA and AVIO logos, along with a commemorative emblem marking ESA’s 50th anniversary in 2025. The setting conveys a formal and significant milestone in space transportation development.
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Reposted by European Space Agency
josefaschbacher.esa.int
Josef Aschbacher @josefaschbacher.esa.int · 9d
We stand at the threshold of a historic milestone in ESA’s cooperation with Australia, whose government announced a mandate to begin negotiations on a Cooperative Agreement with @esa.int, potentially opening up new and exciting opportunities between European and Australian space sectors.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 12d
We will be at stand 671, with an exhibition, showcasing the agency’s latest mission results and future ambitions.

Will we see you there?

Full programme here ➡️ www.esa.int//About_Us/Ex...
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 12d
🇦🇺 🚀 We are heading down under to participate in the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, Australia from 29 September-3 October.

Throughout the week, we will host events on space transportation, international cooperation, commercialisation, the space economy, and education.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 13d
🌪️ Typhoon #Ragasa, as seen from space on 24 September by
@eumetsat.int's MetOp-B satellite.

Our thoughts are with the communities affected by #Ragasa, the most powerful tropical cyclone of 2025 so far. The Disasters Charter has been activated to provide satellite data on the typhoon impact.
atellite image showing Typhoon Ragasa in the South China Sea on 24 September 2025. The storm has a well-defined circular eye just south of Hong Kong, with dense spiraling cloud bands stretching across southern China, northern Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Land areas are labeled, including Hong Kong, Panultan Island, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, China and Taiwan. The swirling white and purple clouds highlight the storm’s intensity as it moves west-northwest.
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esa.int
European Space Agency @esa.int · 14d
In this light, astronomers see more of the region’s diverse, colourful stars, but less of its gas and dust structure helping to uncover what is happening in the centre of our galaxy.

🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Webb explores largest star-forming cloud in our galaxy
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a colourful array of massive stars and glowing cosmic dust in the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) molecular cloud, the most massive and active star-for...
www.esa.int
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