Copernical Team
Highlights of first launch of Ariane 6 with four boosters
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00:02:07
At 16:45 GMT/17:45 CET the first Ariane 6 rocket with four boosters lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 12 February, taking 32 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit.
This is Ariane 6’s most powerful version yet. The new three-stage European rocket can be adapted according to each mission with either two or four boosters as well as the length of the fairing – the nosecone that splits vertically in two. This launch was the sixth Ariane 6 flight, the first to fly with four boosters and also the first with the long fairing.
Ariane 6 in its
By The Numbers: A look at European rocket Ariane 64's maiden launch
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Extraterrestrial strategy: How the US could achieve energy dominance in space
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ESA will engage global leaders at the Munich Security Conference 2026
The European Space Agency (ESA) will take part in the upcoming Munich Security Conference (MSC), one of the world’s leading forums for international security policy. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher will join senior political leaders, industry executives and security experts to highlight how space systems underpin Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy.
NASA's SPHEREx mission spots 3I/ATLAS's bright envelope
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The radical propulsion needed to catch the solar gravitational lens
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Space mining without heavy machines? Microbes harvest metals from meteorites aboard space station
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ESA’s Genesis mission celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in STEM
Video:
00:02:42
On 11 February, International Day of Women and Girls in STEM, we are spotlighting the Genesis mission by speaking to Sara Gidlund, Head of the Genesis Project and Gaia Fusco, Genesis System and Operations Manager about the vision behind a mission for the world.
In this video, the women behind Genesis show how strong leadership drives technical innovation at ESA and inspire the next generation to lead with curiosity, vision and impact.
More on Genesis.
Scaling rules for metamaterials promise better implants and safer devices
Metamaterials are engineered composites whose internal architecture, rather than their base substances, governs how they respond to forces and deformation. In these systems, repeating building blocks known as unit cells are arranged in regular patterns, and their size, shape, and connectivity determine properties such as stiffness, strength, and energy absorption. Researchers from the University Flexible electronics reshape intelligent robot design
With robots taking on more roles in daily life and industry, their evolution toward autonomous intelligence is being held back by rigid electronic hardware that cannot conform to complex, curved bodies. Traditional hard components are difficult to mount on non planar robot surfaces, which limits the integration of critical sensing, computation, and actuation functions that underpin perception, d