On Wednesday 19 August, media representatives were invited to a media briefing ahead of the launch of the next Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite (MTG-I2). The satellite is set to be launched on an Ariane 6 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on 27 August. 

MTG-I2 is the third satellite for MTG, completing the MTG constellation. Together the satellites will produce images for weather forecasting in Europe in unprecedented detail. This mission provides new data products and capabilities for European weather services, especially suited to nowcasting of severe weather events.

The MTG-Imager satellites carry two instruments, a Lightning Imager

ESA’s Mars Express takes us on another mesmerising flight, this time around one of the biggest craters on Mars. 

Despite measuring a huge 460 km across, Schiaparelli Crater seems to be relatively shallow. Perhaps it has been filled in over the last few billion years by sediment blown by the wind or deposited by water, by lava – or by a combination of all three. 

Schiaparelli Crater is named after Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835–1910). Although he studied Mercury and Venus, he is best known for his observations of the Red Planet. 

During the ‘Great Opposition’ of 1877, when

Satellite data from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission is reaching emergency services up to three times faster, enabling a quicker response to wildfires in Europe – all thanks to teams at the European Space Agency (ESA) and Eumetsat, who developed an improved strategy for transmitting data from satellites to ground stations.

Engineers from the European Space Agency (ESA) and industry partners have completed an intensive concept study for Phoenix 3, a reusable spacecraft designed to fly experiments in microgravity and return them safely to Earth.  

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies. Now, new data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope show definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way galaxy in the earliest phases of its evolution. This finding extends our knowledge of our galaxy’s history 1.8 billion years farther back in time than before.

Press Release N° 38–2026

Media representatives are invited to join online media briefings in English, French and German ahead of the launch of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Imager weather satellite, MTG-I2.

We broadcast live from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre in Spain as a total solar eclipse crossed Europe on 12 August 2026. 

The path of totality swept across Greenland, Iceland, Spain and a small area of northeastern Portugal, while much of Europe experienced a partial eclipse. 

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun, completely blocking the face of the Sun. 

The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre is a world-class astronomical observatory located within the path of totality. During the broadcast, scientists, astronomers and special guests explored the science behind eclipses, the Sun

Earlier this year, the UK National PNT Digital Twin Environment (UPDATE) project, funded under the European Space Agency’s NAVISP programme, reached a key milestone in helping the United Kingdom understand and manage its dependence on positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) across critical national systems.

Watch ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot venture into the vacuum of space for her first-ever spacewalk on Tuesday, 8 August.