European Space Agency News

Spaceflight Now • Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX launches EUMETSAT’s MTG-S1 weather and Sentinel-4 air quality satellite, lands Falcon 9 at sea

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched July 1 at 5:04 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, placing EUMETSAT’s Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) into geostationary transfer orbit with the Copernicus Sentinel-4 air quality payload. The first-stage booster successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

2025-07-01T09:45:45.498646-07:00

New York Times

Solar Orbiter Delivers First-Ever Views of Sun’s Poles

2025-06-11T07:11:04.871063-07:00

Royal Aeronautical Society

Airbus Nets $17 Billion in Day-One Paris Air Show Orders as Boeing Steps Back

2025-06-16T21:35:20.873316-07:00

European Spaceflight

Dassault, France’s Armed Forces and ESA Formalize Partnership on VORTEX Reusable Spaceplane

2025-06-23T06:54:31.797440-07:00

European Space Agency News Timeline

Universe Today

UK Proposes VERVE CubeSat to Hunt for Life in Venus’ Cloud Tops The UK is developing the Venus Explorer for Reduced Vapours in the Environment (VERVE), a CubeSat designed to fly alongside ESA’s EnVision mission in 2031. It aims to sample Venus’ upper atmosphere directly for phosphine, ammonia and other potential biosignatures.

2025-07-10T04:53:22.628263-07:00

UK Proposes VERVE CubeSat to Hunt for Life in Venus’ Cloud Tops

ESA

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ESA Preselects PLD Space and Orbex Among Five Startups for European Launcher Challenge The European Space Agency has preselected five startups — including Spain’s PLD Space and the UK’s Orbex — for its European Launcher Challenge, a program funding the development of autonomous launch vehicles with up to €169 million per finalist to boost Europe’s access to space.

2025-07-07T06:03:20.593916-07:00

ESA Preselects PLD Space and Orbex Among Five Startups for European Launcher Challenge

Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX launches EUMETSAT’s MTG-S1 weather and Sentinel-4 air quality satellite, lands Falcon 9 at sea SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched July 1 at 5:04 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, placing EUMETSAT’s Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) into geostationary transfer orbit with the Copernicus Sentinel-4 air quality payload. The first-stage booster successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

2025-07-01T09:45:45.498646-07:00

SpaceX launches EUMETSAT’s MTG-S1 weather and Sentinel-4 air quality satellite, lands Falcon 9 at sea

SpaceWatch Global

Living Planet Symposium 2025: Cheli on BIOMASS Impact as Kenya Joins Space Climate Observatory At the Living Planet Symposium in Vienna, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli emphasized the BIOMASS mission’s role in refining global carbon cycle models and offered key takeaways on climate monitoring innovations. Meanwhile, Kenya Space Agency formally signed the Space Climate Observatory Charter, expanding international collaboration on satellite-driven climate data.

2025-06-30T04:19:17.325498-07:00

Living Planet Symposium 2025: Cheli on BIOMASS Impact as Kenya Joins Space Climate Observatory

ESA

Italy Launches Seven IRIDE Earth Observation Satellites on Falcon 9 Italy has deployed its first seven IRIDE Earth observation satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, advancing the Hawk for Earth Observation (HEO) constellation. Developed by Argotec with ESA and ASI under PNRR funding, the multispectral fleet will deliver autonomous high-resolution monitoring of environment and infrastructure.

2025-06-24T00:15:12.401347-07:00

Italy Launches Seven IRIDE Earth Observation Satellites on Falcon 9

Space.com

ESA’s Biomass Satellite Delivers First P-Band Radar Views of Earth ESA’s Biomass satellite has delivered its initial P-band radar views of Earth, capturing forests, volcanoes, deserts and glaciers in vivid detail. Launched in April aboard a Vega-C rocket, Biomass aims to produce 3D forest biomass maps to improve understanding of global carbon cycles and climate change.

2025-06-23T14:04:49.064816-07:00

ESA’s Biomass Satellite Delivers First P-Band Radar Views of Earth

European Spaceflight

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Dassault, France’s Armed Forces and ESA Formalize Partnership on VORTEX Reusable Spaceplane Dassault Aviation has secured backing from the European Space Agency and France’s Ministry of Armed Forces to co-develop its VORTEX reusable spaceplane demonstrator. The agreements establish partnerships for low Earth orbit vehicle technologies and mark the first concrete step toward Dassault’s vision of a European reusable spacecraft.

2025-06-23T06:54:31.797440-07:00

Dassault, France’s Armed Forces and ESA Formalize Partnership on VORTEX Reusable Spaceplane

Reuters

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France’s Armed Forces and ESA Back Dassault’s VORTEX Reusable Spaceplane Demonstrator Dassault Aviation this week clinched dual endorsements for its VORTEX reusable spaceplane: France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces signed an agreement to back the demonstrator, while the European Space Agency formalised a Letter of Intent to collaborate on low-Earth orbit and orbital vehicle technologies.

2025-06-20T11:27:47.554987-07:00

France’s Armed Forces and ESA Back Dassault’s VORTEX Reusable Spaceplane Demonstrator

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