The first quarter of 2025 saw our Milky Way galaxy charted in more detail than ever before, following the latest release of Gaia space telescope data, and spectacular ESA flybys of Mercury and Mars – including a close encounter with the red planet’s enigmatic Deimos moon. Preparations were underway to launch ESA’s forest-mapping Biomass mission and the atmosphere-focused Meteosat Third Generation Sounder plus the Sentinel-4 instrument, while contracts were signed towards Europe’s Argonaut Lunar Lander and Ramses space safety mission. ESA and the European Commission came together at the annual European Space Conference to underscore the importance of space for our continent’s future, at the same time as ESA partnered with the international Red Cross to apply space technology to humanitarian assistance worldwide.