European Space Agency
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NASA
Astronauts Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot on Spacewalk
From left, Expedition 75 flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA (partially obscured and wearing the spacesuit with a red stripe on the legs) and Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) work together during a six‑hour and 23‑minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Aug. 18, 2026. The pair will finish installing a high-speed communications antenna on Aug. 25,…
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NASA
NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Preps for Spacewalk
Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) helps flight engineer Chris Williams of NASA as he tries on his spacesuit on June 23, 2026, testing its comfort and mobility as well as its communications and life support systems inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Williams will go on a spacewalk on June 30 with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. They will…
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NASA
The European Space Agency, on Behalf of the Czech Republic, Signs Agreement with Vast for a Private Astronaut Mission to the International Space Station in Partnership with NASA
Vast, the company developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure, is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA), on behalf of the Czech Republic, to send an astronaut to the International Space Station. This agreement builds on the memorandum of understanding that Vast, and the Czech Republic signed in 2024. Subject to Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP) review and approval, Aleš Svoboda,…
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NASA
Joint Earth Observation Mission Quality Assessment Framework – Optical Guidelines Documents Released
NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program, in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has released the Joint Earth Observation Mission Quality Assessment Framework – Optical Guidelines. Released on April 26, 2026, the Optical Guidelines document provides specific guidelines for the mission quality assessment of optical sensors as part of the implementation of the generic Earth…
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NASA
NASA, Partners Advance LISA Prototype Hardware
Engineers and scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, completed tests this month on a second early version of a key element of the upcoming LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission. The LISA mission, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA, will use infrared lasers to detect gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time. The tests…
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NASA
A Rare Gourd
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an uncommon sight – the death of a low-mass star – in this image of the Calabash Nebula released on Feb. 3, 2017. Here, we can see the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of gas and dust out into…
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NASA
Hubble Seeks Clusters in ‘Lost Galaxy’
Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 4535, which is situated about 50 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). Through a small telescope, this galaxy appears extremely faint, giving it the nickname ‘Lost Galaxy’. With a mirror spanning nearly eight feet (2.4 meters) across and its location above Earth’s light-obscuring atmosphere, Hubble can easily observe…
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NASA
NASA, European Partners Set to Launch Sentinel-6B Earth Satellite
Set to track sea levels across more than 90% of Earth’s ocean, the mission must first get into orbit. Here’s what to expect. Sentinel-6B, an ocean-tracking satellite jointly developed by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), is ready to roll out to the launch pad, packed into the payload fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Launch is targeted at…
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Press Releases
Astrolight and ESA Are Building Northernmost Optical Ground Station in Greenland, First of Its Kind in the Region
Astrolight, a pioneer in laser-based telecommunication systems, has begun building its first Optical Ground Station (OGS) in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, in partnership with the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications. The project, funded under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) Optical and Quantum Communications – ScyLight programme, marks the northernmost station of its kind and the first established…
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NASA
Hubble Captures Puzzling Galaxy
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a galaxy that’s hard to categorize. The galaxy in question is NGC 2775, which lies 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer (the Crab). NGC 2775 sports a smooth, featureless center that is devoid of gas, resembling an elliptical galaxy. It also has a dusty ring with patchy star clusters, like a spiral galaxy.…
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