Copernical Team
Safer space travel: Scientists create a cosmic ray simulator
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A look back at 2025 for Europe’s Spaceport
Week in images: 09-13 March 2026
Week in images: 09-13 March 2026
Discover our week through the lens
Plato readies for space-like tests
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The European Space Agency’s mission to discover Earth-like exoplanets, Plato, is now sealed in the Large Space Simulator (LSS) chamber at ESA’s Test Centre for a series of vital tests under space‑like conditions.
Engineers placed Plato in the LSS on 18 February, and since the beginning of March the spacecraft has been experiencing the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space. This photo captures the satellite standing in the centre of the simulator, moments before the chamber was bolted closed.
The picture was taken from the top opening of the LSS and gives us a direct view of Plato’s 26
A cosmic ray simulator for extreme science on Earth
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A cosmic ray simulator for extreme science on Earth Earth from Space: Maritime highways in the Øresund Strait
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This image from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission shows us the maritime traffic passing through the Øresund Strait in 2025. ESA’s HydroGNSS on track to scout for water
Just three months after launch, the European Space Agency’s twin HydroGNSS satellites are already proving their capabilities in orbit. By exploiting reflected signals from navigation satellites – the sophisticated technique they use to generate Delay Doppler Maps in order to ‘scout’ for water across Earth’s surface – these compact satellites are beginning to reveal the scientific potential they were built to unlock, even while still in their commissioning phase.
NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairs
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NASA plans to have a permanent base on the moon by 2030: How it can be done
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CELESTE pre-launch media briefing
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Watch the replay of the CELESTE pre-launch media briefing. The briefing covered the mission details of the ahead of the inaugural launch of ESA’s Celeste LEO-PNT in-orbit demonstration constellation. The first two satellites are scheduled to lift off no earlier than 24 March aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand.