Press Releases — 2023

Join ESA's start-of-the-year press briefing looking ahead to 2024, with Director General Josef Aschbacher on 11 January from 10:00 CET at ESA HQ, Paris.

Two new senior staff have been appointed by ESA’s 22 Member States at today’s Council meeting. Laurent Jaffart will become the next Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications and Marco Ferrazzani will become the next Director of Internal Services.

The ESA Council will hold its 322nd session on 13 and 14 December 2023 in ESA HQ, Paris, France. This session will contain updates on space transportation, exploration projects and international cooperation. An information session for media will be held at the end of the meeting on Thursday 14 December 2023, between 14:00 and 15:00 CET.

ESA has an exciting lineup for 2024. In January, ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt is set to embark on his first mission to the International Space Station. In April, ESA will oversee the launch of two Galileo navigation satellites by SpaceX, with another two following later in the year. In June and July, ESA will showcase its latest scientific and exploration missions at the ILA International Airshow in Berlin and the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. ESA’s planetary defence mission Hera and its Earth observation satellite EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) will also be launched. But the main highlight of 2024 will be regaining autonomous European access to space through the highly anticipated inaugural flight of Ariane 6 and the return to flight of Vega-C. 

Europe will harness space for a greener future, take decisive steps in exploration, and ensure autonomous access to space while preparing a paradigm shift towards a more competitive next generation of launchers, following decisions taken today at the ESA Space Summit in Seville.

At its Council meeting during the Space Summit on 6 November 2023, Ministers of ESA’s Member States will take decisive steps in making space an even more important instrument to manage climate change. At the same time, ESA will open a new era of modernizing the implementation of its programmes, responding to growing commercialisation and privatisation of space activities, in particular in the fields of space transportation and space exploration. 

The ESA Council will hold its 317th session on 18 and 19 October 2023 in Paris, France. This session will address, among other topics, the improved sharing of Earth observation data for environmental purposes, including enhanced cooperation with Poland, and preparations for the Space Summit to be held in November 2023. An information session for media will be held at the end of the meeting on Thursday 19 October 2023 between 14:00 and 15:00 CEST.

On Saturday 21st October, the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid will open its doors to the general public and media between 10:00 and 18:00 CEST.

Editor's note: The target launch date of VV23 was updated following an announcement by Arianespace. ESA is continuing its streak of key media events in the last months of 2023: the Ariane 6 long hot firing test, several Open Days in ESA establishments and the Space Summit in Sevilla are some of the highlights of the next few months.

On Sunday 8th October, ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands, ESTEC, will open its doors for media and the general public between 10:00 and 17:00 CEST.Media opportunities on the day include, among other highlights: interviews with ESA Director General, Josef Aschbacher, ESA Astronauts André Kuipers and Thomas Reiter, and ESA Reserve Astronaut and former Paralympian John McFall. Media will also be invited to see ESA’s upcoming planetary defence mission, Hera, in the ESTEC test centre.

On Friday 29 September, ESA ESRIN will open its doors to the general public for the annual ESA open day, which will coincide with European researchers’ night.ESRIN will take part in the celebrations by welcoming guests on its premises from 17:00 to 23:00 CEST. The European researchers’ night is promoted each year by the European Commission. ESA participates in this initiative as part of the Frascati Scienza consortium.

The ESA Council will hold its 316th session on 28 and 29 June 2023 in Stockholm. This will be the first time that an ESA Council session is held in the Swedish capital. This session will address, among other topics, security-related applications, climate change projects, new space exploration endeavours, commercialisation and ESA transformation.An information session for media will be held at the end of the meeting.

Journalists are invited to follow the highlights of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, 19-25 June 2023. In a common ‘Space Pavilion’, ESA and CNES present ambitious new projects in space exploration, astronautics, Earth observation and security-related applications.

A bold ambition for Europe in space exploration received enthusiastic support from politicians, business leaders and independent experts from across Europe at an event held today in Vienna.

Media representatives are invited to follow a high-level political conference on 2 June 2023 at Palais Ferstel in Vienna, in which Austria's Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer will discuss current global space activities and ‘Revolution Space’ with ESA Director General Aschbacher, astronauts and representatives from Europe’s space sector.

ESA invites interested journalists to sign up for a new ‘Under Embargo’ mailing list.

ESA will be very busy in the coming months:  The first MTG images will be released, Paris will host the biennial Le Bourget air show where ESA will be featured, the High-Level Advisory Group will convene again to discuss the future of space exploration, and the Euclid mission will be launched to explore the dark universe.

A panel of independent experts, including former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has called on the European Space Agency to significantly increase its autonomy in human and robotic space exploration.

The ESA Council will hold its 315th session on 22 and 23 March 2023 in the freshly renovated ESA HQ Nikis building in Paris. After a successful Council Meeting at Ministerial Level in 2022 (CM22), further transformation measures and ambitious, new ideas for space exploration will be shared with the media.

In the heart of the 15th arrondissement and after 5 years of intensive refurbishment works, the Headquarters of the European Space Agency (ESA) are once again ready to welcome ESA staff and representatives from the Agency’s 22 Member States.In advance of the first session of the ESA Council in the new premises, journalists are invited to a “first-look” press tour on Tuesday, 21 March at 09:30 to discover this futuristic new building and discuss its transformation with the ESA project managers and partner firms.Media representatives are also invited to attend the official opening of ESA Headquarters on 22 March at 18:00.

The 15th European Space Conference will be hosted in Brussels, Belgium, from Tuesday to Wednesday, 24-25 January 2023, at the Palais Egmont (Place du Petit Sablon 8, Brussels 1000).

We’re inviting media to join our start-of-year press briefing looking ahead at 2023. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Directors will meet the media in Paris on 23 January 2023.