Week in images: 23-27 October 2023

Discover our week through the lens

Image: This rare, almost cloud-free view of the remote Elephant Island in Antarctica was captured in February 2023 by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

ESA’s first-ever Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum will take place next week at ESA Headquarters in Paris from 30 to 31 October 2023. The event will see investors, institutions, entrepreneurs and companies of any size from the Earth observation sector coming together to discuss the commercial potential and challenges of Earth observation. Follow our live steaming on ESA WebTV Two.

Bethesda MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2023
In a significant move to bolster innovation in environmental resource management, private equity firm Hull Street Energy ("HSE") has invested in technology company Upstream Tech. Known for their respective strengths in the power sector and water resource management, the two companies aim to synergize their operations to address key global challenges. Upstream Tech has garnered a reputation

Durham UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2023
The research team, led by Durham University, UK, used satellite data and radio-echo sounding techniques to map a 32,000 km2 area of land underneath the vast ice sheet.? They discovered a landscape that appears to have been formed by rivers at least 14 million years ago and possibly even before the initial growth of the East Antarctic ice around 34 million years ago. This newly discov

Herndon VA (SPX) Oct 26, 2023
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) won two back-to-back contracts from a legacy international defense ministry customer to continue on-demand, real-time high-frequency imagery and analytics services and conduct research on future multi-sensor space capabilities. "BlackSky has built an unparalleled space-based intelligence platform that pushes the strategic advantage of foresight to the

Boston MA (SPX) Oct 24, 2023
In 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, made history when it made the first direct detection of gravitational waves, or ripples in space and time, produced by a pair of colliding black holes. Since then, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded LIGO and its sister detector in Europe, Virgo, have detected gravitational waves from dozens of mergers betwe

Vienna VA (SPX) Oct 25, 2023
In a significant development aimed at enhancing space domain awareness, Spire Global, Inc. has secured a subcontract with Riverside Research. The deal is part of the Data Exploitation and Enhanced Processing for Space Domain Awareness (DEEP-SDA) initiative, which is being conducted on behalf of the United States Space Force (USSF). The DEEP-SDA initiative focuses on confronting a vital nat

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2023
Lidar technology improvements will help NASA scientists and explorers with remote sensing and surveying, mapping, 3D-image scanning, hazard detection and avoidance, and navigation. Like a sonar using light instead of sound, lidar technology increasingly helps NASA scientists and explorers with remote sensing and surveying, mapping, 3D-image scanning, hazard detection and avoidance, and nav

Birmingham UK (SPX) Oct 26, 2023
Scientists have observed the creation of rare chemical elements in the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen - casting new light on how heavy elements are made. Researchers examined the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst GRB 230307A, which was caused by a neutron star merger. The explosion was observed using an array of ground and space-based telescopes, including NASA's James Webb Space