ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Anil Menon successfully completed US EVA-98 at 20:57 CEST on Tuesday 25 August. It was Sophie’s second spacewalk, and the 32nd conducted by a European astronaut.   

The Meteosat Third Generation-Imager2 (MTG-I2) satellite, is ready for launch on board an Ariane 6 launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Lift off is scheduled for 27 August 2026 at 22:10 CEST (17:10 local time).

MTG-I2 is part of the MTG constellation for Eumetsat – two are already in orbit. It will produce images for weather forecasting in Europe in unprecedented detail. This mission provides completely new data products and capabilities for European weather services, especially suited to short-term forecasting of severe weather events.

The NASA-led Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch on 30 August 2026 at 07:26 EDT / 12:26 BST / 13:26 CEST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.

With its wide field of view and advanced optical design, the Roman telescope will conduct detailed scans of the sky in visible to near-infrared light. In doing so, Roman will help reveal the nature of dark energy and dark matter and find new exoplanets.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are an invisible backbone for everyday life. They are essential for transportation, emergency response and public safety. They are also vulnerable to interference, both natural and human made.

As our dependence on GNSS grows, the European Space Agency (ESA) is working hard to ensure satellite navigation systems are resilient and is supporting companies and Member States in finding new ways to detect interference.

The next Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite (MTG-I2) is set for liftoff on flight VA270 on an Ariane 6, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It will complete the first family of MTG satellites, which will deliver data for weather forecasting over Europe and northern Africa in unprecedented detail. The launch will be broadcast on Thursday, 27 August, on ESA WebTV.

After a successful EVA-97 on Tuesday 18 August, watch ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot venture into the vacuum of space for the second time on Tuesday 25 August, during EVA-98.

Week in images: 17-21 August 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has captured a dramatic change at Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland, where a 76 sq km section of the glacier’s floating ice tongue broke away on 4 August 2026.

The event marks the glacier’s largest loss of floating ice since 2012 and the most significant calving event in the Arctic since 2020 – revealing once again how rapidly Earth’s polar landscapes can change.