Sending vast quantities of data between satellites speedily and securely means using light to communicate. Now a group of space companies, research centres and universities working with ESA has established a series of specifications on how exactly satellites should use light to talk to one another – and to link to their ground stations.

Watch: Earth Explorer 11 Consultation

On 10-11 October, follow the discussions on the candidate missions for ESA's eleventh Earth Explorer at the User Consultation Meeting

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Oct 09, 2023
The Airbus-built THEOS-2 Earth observation satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, Europe's spaceport in French Guiana. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system in 2018. Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Space Systems at Airbus, said: "This success

Ithaca NY (SPX) Oct 04, 2023
Rare earth elements power electric cars, wind turbines and smartphones. Retrieving these metals from raw ore requires processing with acids and solvents. Now, Cornell scientists have characterized the genome of Shewanella oneidensis - a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements - to replace the harsh chemical processing with a benign practice called biosorption.

If you are interested in applying for a job at ESA, curious to know what opportunities we have for you or would like to hear about the projects our teams are working on, then mark your calendar for 9 November 2023! For this fully online event, we will be streaming a programme packed full of sessions giving you an insider’s look at STEM careers at ESA.

Warwick UK (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
The European Space Agency (ESA) has funded a new mission concept involving a "swarm" of satellites to address the growing threat of space debris. The news comes as just this week the US government issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth. Space debris poses a huge problem for global communication systems and space exploration efforts. Over 50,000 pi

Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
Belgian company SPACEBEL, a renowned specialist in software engineering and Space systems, is celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary. Launched into orbit in 1988 to support the ambitions of Europe, and Belgium in particular, in Space, SPACEBEL quickly established a solid reputation in the Space and Earth observation applications sector thanks to its innovative software solutions. Drawing

Northampton UK (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
UK based XCAM Ltd, world leaders in specialist digital camera systems, have secured over 200,000 pound grant funding from the UK Space Agency's Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) , to develop and evaluate a New Space ultra-low-light camera system suitable for use in a range of compact Earth observation instruments in the visible and NIR wavelengths. It is anticipated that

Amsterdam, Netheralnds (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
The central question in the ongoing hunt for dark matter is: what is it made of? One possible answer is that dark matter consists of particles known as axions. A team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from the universities of Amsterdam and Princeton, has now shown that if dark matter consists of axions, it may reveal itself in the form of a subtle additional glow coming from pulsating stars