ESO Top News

The European Space Agency (ESA) signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), hailing a new era of cooperation with the aim of advancing the use of Earth observation data and services for development and impact finance initiatives.

Week in images: 01-05 June 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Video: 00:02:40

English

How does Europe study the Sun? Discover the missions revealing the secrets of our closest star, from SOHO and Solar Orbiter to Proba-3, which is creating artificial solar eclipses in space to unlock new insights into the Sun's mysterious corona.

Featuring ESA Reserve Astronaut Sara García Alonso.

Spanish 

¿Cómo se estudia el Sol desde Europa? Acompaña a Sara García Alonso en un recorrido por las misiones de la ESA que observan nuestra estrella, desde SOHO y Solar Orbiter hasta Proba-3, que está creando eclipses solares artificiales en el espacio para investigar la misteriosa corona solar.

Con Sara García Alonso, astronauta de reserva de la ESA.

Image: Webb unveils young stars across every stage of formation

Image: On World Environment Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us an amazing view from space of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, hosting this year’s celebration.

A foundation model trained on Earth observation data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 has been made widely available to researchers, it was announced at a computer industry conference this week in Denver, US.

Last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled its long-term vision for the decades ahead with ESA Strategy 2040. Framed around five encompassing goals which demonstrate the important role space can play in every aspect of citizens’ lives across Europe. Today, ESA is taking a decisive step forward to bring this vision to life through a comprehensive brand transformation.

In the region where the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of life, clay deposits extend beyond previous estimates, a new study finds. One hypothesis even suggests a vast ocean once covered the landing site.

Image: Webb's MIRI image of the interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in three different light wavelengths

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Smile successfully launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 19 May 2026.

This timelapse captures the excitement and precision of launch operations as the spacecraft begins its journey to study the connection between the Sun and Earth.

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is an international space science mission designed to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere. By observing these dynamic processes from space, Smile will help scientists better understand space weather and its effects on our planet's magnetic environment.

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What did space deliver for Europe this month? From asteroid flybys to Mars landing tests, new discoveries from Webb and Hubble, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot capturing shooting stars from orbit, here’s your monthly roundup from the European Space Agency.

This month also saw ESA team up with DON’T NOD for Aphelion, a sci-fi adventure inspired by real space science and exploration.

Week in images: 25-29 May 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image features the Batagaika Crater in Siberia. This is the biggest permafrost crater in the world, caused by melting permafrost and also known as a ‘mega-slump’.

Image: The Meteosat Third Generation-Imager2 satellite sets sail from France to French Guiana

Using the unprecedented imaging and spectroscopic power of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, researchers have mapped the motion and composition of gas orbiting a black hole in the centre of Abell2744-QSO1, a tiny galaxy more than 13 billion light-years away. The results suggest that the 50-million-solar-mass black hole predates its host galaxy, possibly forming within the first second of the Big Bang, and must have been immense from the start.

Image: Europe is in the middle of a heatwave – Copernicus Sentinel-3 captured this image on Tuesday 26 May

The launch of the 4DSpace-Daedalus mission in Norway is the latest success supported by Prodex, a European Space Agency (ESA) programme which enables highly skilled research institutes to partake in European space science activities and missions.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher participated in the 21st edition of the GLOBSEC Forum, held from 21 to 23 May in Prague, Czechia, under the theme ‘The Global Systemic Transformation.’ The high‑level gathering brought together political leaders, industry representatives and experts to discuss how Europe can respond to an increasingly complex and fragmented geopolitical environment.

Week in images: 18-22 May 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Image: The sandy and rocky terrain of the Sahara desert in central Algeria is featured in these images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.