Pipelines to payloads: risk management lessons for the space economy
Monday, 20 July 2026 12:00
The energy sector has spent decades learning how to manage complex disputes that touch on sovereign power, geopolitics, regulation and private capital.
Plato's electronics ready for space
Monday, 20 July 2026 11:30
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The European Space Agency’s terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space.
This photo captures the spacecraft standing inside the special chamber. The shielded enclosure features conducting metal walls, floor, and ceiling that form a Faraday cage, screening out all external interference. Its 9 m-high interior is lined floor to ceiling with foam spikes that absorb electrical signals and sounds to mimic the void of space.
Once the chamber was sealed closed, engineers remotely switched on and
Sentinel-3C unpacked
Monday, 20 July 2026 11:13
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The next satellite in the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation satellite system, Sentinel-3C, has been unpacked from its container at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. AI rocket engine startup LegendSpace raises $29.5 million angel round
Monday, 20 July 2026 10:18
Artemis II crew at ESTEC
Monday, 20 July 2026 07:30
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00:19:14
The four Artemis II astronauts visited ESTEC, ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands, on 13 July as the first stop in a series of post-flight visits to the European teams that made their mission possible.
The day included a visit to the Eagle mission control room, where ESA and Airbus engineers monitored the European Service Module around the clock throughout Artemis II. There, astronauts met some of the ESA specialists who had supported their flight from Earth.
Call for interest: media programme for FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C launch at Europe’s Spaceport
Monday, 20 July 2026 07:00Press Release N° 35–2026
Media representatives are invited to express their interest in attending the media programme at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana for the launch of the FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellites on a Vega-C rocket (flight VV30). Liftoff is expected to take place in September.
From system to signal at ESA’s Navigation Training Course
Monday, 20 July 2026 05:54
From 22-26 June, 30 university students from Europe and Canada came together at the European Space Agency (ESA) Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in Belgium to explore the fundamentals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The course prepared the next generation of navigation professionals with lectures from experts and hands-on exercises where students applied their new knowledge.
Space Force triples launch contract ceiling amid rising demand
Saturday, 18 July 2026 16:40
The maximum value of the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 contract was raised from $5.6 billion to $17 billion
Pentagon awards $7.1 million to expand U.S. production of cover glass for satellites
Saturday, 18 July 2026 15:59
Defense Production Act funding was awarded to Martin Materials Solutions, a small business that makes radiation-resistant cover glass used on spacecraft solar arrays and thermal-control systems
Skyroot Aerospace reaches orbit on first Vikram-1 launch
Saturday, 18 July 2026 07:03
Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket successfully lifted off on its inaugural flight July 18, becoming the first commercial Indian rocket to reach orbit.
NASA terminates Draper lunar lander mission
Friday, 17 July 2026 23:00
NASA and Draper have terminated plans for a lunar lander mission after significant delays in development of the spacecraft.
ESA’s Mars Express meets NASA’s Psyche
Friday, 17 July 2026 15:00
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Mars Express image ESA Academy’s Navigation Training Course
Friday, 17 July 2026 15:00
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00:02:09
From 22-26 June 2026, 30 university students from Europe and Canada came together at the European Space Agency (ESA) Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in Belgium to explore the fundamentals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). This annual course prepares the next generation of navigation professionals with lectures from experts and hands-on exercises where students can apply their new knowledge. In this video, students and lecturers from the 2026 edition of the training course talk about the importance of satellite navigation, including Europe’s Galileo system, in their own words.
Week in images: 13-17 July 2026
Friday, 17 July 2026 12:10
Week in images: 13-17 July 2026
Discover our week through the lens

