ESA title

Press Releases — 2017

Published by the ESA Newsroom and Media Relations

email: media @ esa.int (Media inquiries only)

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Press Release N° 27–2017
Agency

Günther Hasinger appointed as ESA Director of Science

The Council of the European Space Agency announced the appointment of Günther Hasinger as the next Director of Science. He will succeed Alvaro Giménez, who has served in the position since 2011.
14/12/2017 1838 views
Open
Press Release N° 26–2017
Science & Exploration

Paolo Nespoli returns to Earth

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli landed back on Earth early this morning after 139 days in space. The ride home from the International Space Station required braking from 28 800 km/h to a standstill in barely three hours.
14/12/2017 425 views
Open
Press Release N° 25–2017
Applications

Galileo launch brings navigation network close to completion

Europe has four more Galileo navigation satellites in the sky following their launch on an Ariane 5 rocket. After today’s success, only one more launch remains before the Galileo constellation is complete and delivering global coverage.
13/12/2017 574 views
Open
Press Release N° 24–2017
Applications

Call for Media: Galileo 19-22 ready for launch

The next four Galileo satellites are scheduled for launch on 12 December at 18:36 GMT (19:36 CET, 15:36 local time) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana atop an Ariane 5 rocket.
05/12/2017 815 views
Open
Press Release N° 23–2017
Applications

Call for media: Copernicus Sentinel-5P shines first light on air pollution

Launched into orbit on 13 October, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite has delivered its first images of air pollution. To mark this important milestone, ESA, the European Commission and the German Aerospace Centre DLR invite media representatives to an exclusive viewing of these tantalising first results, which surpass expectations.
21/11/2017 2454 views
Open
Press Release N° 22–2017
Agency

ESA Council October 2017

The ESA Council, chaired by Jean-Yves Le Gall, met on 17–18 October in Paris, France.
19/10/2017 1950 views
Open
Press Release N° 21–2017
Applications

Air quality-monitoring satellite in orbit

The first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere, Sentinel‑5P, has been launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
13/10/2017 769 views
Open
Press Release N° 20–2017
Agency

Call for Media: Launch of Sentinel-5P satellite for Copernicus

The next satellite of Europe’s Copernicus programme is set for launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on 13 October at 09:27 GMT (11:27 CEST). Media representatives are invited to follow the launch at the main event at ESA’s Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
25/09/2017 1614 views
Open
Press Release N° 19–2017
Agency

The ESA 500: fostering start-up companies to use space technology on Earth

Thousands of new jobs and boosted local economies are the direct results from ESA’s investment in young companies through its business incubation centres, which have now hosted more than 500 start-ups.
18/09/2017 3370 views
Open
Press Release N° 18–2017
Enabling & Support

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli starts third mission on Space Station

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik and Roscosmos commander Sergei Ryazansky were launched into space yesterday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 15:41 GMT (17:41 CEST). Their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft circled Earth four times to catch up with the International Space Station six hours later and the crew are now settling into their new home and place of work for five months.
27/07/2017 613 views
Open
Press Release N° 17–2017
Applications

ESA and European space industry join forces on ‘Satellite for 5G’

21/06/2017 2436 views
Open
Press Release N° 16–2017
Science & Exploration

Call for media: Last chance to view ESA’s Mercury Explorer BepiColombo

Media representatives are invited to a briefing on BepiColombo, ESA and JAXA’s joint mission to Mercury, and to view the spacecraft before it leaves for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, for launch next year.  
14/06/2017 879 views
Open
Press Release N° 15–2017
Agency

Call for media: ESA at the Paris Air and Space Show 2017

The 52nd International Paris Air and Space Show at Le Bourget will open its doors on Monday, 19 June. Media are invited to join ESA at the events presented at its pavilion, located between the two full-scale models of the Ariane 1 and Ariane 5 launchers near the permanent Air and Space Museum.
12/06/2017 556 views
Open
Press Release N° 14–2017
Science & Exploration

Call for media: Thomas Pesquet’s return to Earth after 6 months in space

Media are invited to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre on Friday, 2 June, to witness the return to Earth of Thomas Pesquet. The events include a live viewing of the capsule’s landing, a photo opportunity with Thomas Pesquet on arrival of the ESA aircraft in Cologne and a press conference three days after return.
17/05/2017 4740 views
Open
Press Release N° 13–2017
Agency

Call for a sustainable future in space

With more than 750 000 pieces of dangerous debris now orbiting Earth, the urgent need for coordinated international action to ensure the long-term sustainability of spaceflight is a major finding from Europe’s largest-ever conference on space debris.
21/04/2017 848 views
Open
Press Release N° 12–2017
Enabling & Support

Call for Media: European conference on space debris risks and mitigation

The 7th European Conference on Space Debris, to be held 18–21 April at ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, will provide a unique forum for leading scientists, engineers, managers, space operators, industry, academia and policy-makers from all major spacefaring nations. 
23/03/2017 1937 views
Open
Press Release N° 11–2017
Applications

Call for Media: Results from ESA’s ice and magnetic field satellite missions

Scientists are convening in Banff, Canada, to discuss the latest results coming from the three-satellite Swarm mission on the magnetic field, as well as new information on changing ice masses from the CryoSat satellite.
17/03/2017 1262 views
Open
Press Release N° 10–2017
Agency

New Chairship of the ESA Council

Jean-Yves Le Gall of France has been elected chair of the ESA Council.
16/03/2017 3346 views
Open
Press Release N° 9–2017
Agency

International space docking standard updated

The International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board has approved a major update to the station docking system standard. First released in 2010, the docking standard established a common standard to enable spacecraft of multiple types to dock to space stations and with each another in space.
10/03/2017 2428 views
Open
Press Release N° 8–2017
Applications

Second ‘colour vision’ satellite for Copernicus launched

The ESA-developed Sentinel-2B satellite was launched today, doubling the coverage of high-resolution optical imaging in the Sentinel-2 mission for the European Union Copernicus environmental monitoring system.
07/03/2017 581 views
Open
Press Release N° 7–2017
Applications

Call for Media: Launch of Sentinel-2B satellite for Copernicus

The second satellite in the Sentinel-2 mission for the EU’s Copernicus programme is set for launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 01:49 GMT 7 March (02:49 CET 7 March; 22:49 local time 6 March) aboard a Vega rocket.
27/02/2017 1599 views
Open
Press Release N° 6–2017
Agency

ESA affirms Open Access policy for images, videos and data

ESA today announced it has adopted an Open Access policy for its content such as still images, videos and selected sets of data.
20/02/2017 2391 views
Open
Press Release N° 5–2017
Science & Exploration

Call for Media: Signing of industrial contract for Orion spacecraft’s first astronaut mission

A European Service Module will power NASA’s Orion spacecraft beyond the Moon and back in 2018. ESA and Airbus Defence and Space have agreed with NASA to build a second module for a second mission with astronauts for launch as early as 2021.
08/02/2017 893 views
Open
Press Release N° 4–2017
Applications

SmallGEO’s first flight reaches orbit

ESA’s new small telecom platform was launched on its first mission in the early hours of this morning.
28/01/2017 585 views
Open
Press Release N° 3–2017
Agency

Call for Media: Introducing ESA’s new astronaut

Media are invited to ESA’s operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, for a press conference on 2 February at 11:00 CET (10:00 GMT) with the Agency’s latest recruit to its astronaut corps, Matthias Maurer. (editor's note: update time to 11:00 CET on 30/01/2017)
25/01/2017 1186 views
Open
Press Release N° 2–2017
Applications

Call for Media: First flight for SmallGEO

Europe’s new versatile small geostationary platform will be launched on its maiden flight in the early hours of 28 January on a Soyuz rocket.
25/01/2017 741 views
Open
Press Release N° 1–2017
Agency

ESA activities in 2017 of interest to media

The main events of interest to media planned for 2017 are detailed below. Go to ESA website’s media section at http://www.esa.int/For_Media and the associated media and launch calendars for more key events and future updates.
05/01/2017 4508 views
Open

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