Copernical Team
HydroGNSS: ESA’s first Scout begins launch preparations
	The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) HydroGNSS mission, which will investigate the Earth’s water cycle, has landed in California and is ready to start preparations for launch.
IAC 2025 - One-to-one with ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
	Video: 
			00:14:08
				Watch the one-to-one interview with Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), extracted from Plenary 1 of the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025). In this session, he shares his insights into ESA's strategic vision.
Webb studies moon-forming disc around massive planet
	The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disc encircling a large exoplanet. The carbon-rich disc surrounding the world called CT Cha B, which is located 625 light years away from Earth, is a possible construction yard for moons, although no moons are detected in the Webb data. The disc offers insight into how the moons of Solar System gas giants like Jupiter might have formed.
Measuring soil from the sky for ROSE-L and CHIME
	Gathering datasets about our soil, from the ground, the air and from space, is part of the robust preparation for these two new European satellites set to extend the capabilities of the Copernicus family of Sentinel missions.
U.S. and U.K. execute joint satellite maneuver in milestone space operation
U.S. Space Command and U.K. Space Command completed their first coordinated satellite maneuver from September 4 to 12, marking a significant advance in allied on-orbit operations. The mission demonstrated readiness for responsible, dynamic, and integrated space activities at a time and place of the partners' choosing. 
The Rendezvous Proximity Operation (RPO), conducted under Multinational                German military satellites to fly on Ariane 6 under new Arianespace contract
Arianespace has secured a contract to launch two SATCOMBw Stufe 3 satellites for the German Armed Forces using Ariane 6 heavy-lift rockets from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The new satellites will replace the Bundeswehr's COMSATBw 1 and 2 communications platforms. 
Airbus serves as prime contractor for the SATCOMBw Stufe 3 program, responsible for satellite design, integration, test                York and SDA prove space to ground laser link for Transport Layer
York Space Systems announced a successful space-to-ground optical laser communications demonstration with the U.S. Space Development Agency, advancing the Transport Layer that aims to deliver resilient, low-latency, high-volume connectivity for U.S. and allied forces worldwide. 
In the test, a York-built Tranche 0 satellite linked with an SDA optical ground terminal. The campaign logged mor                Welsh project aims to reinvent space cooling with laser textured graphite
Teledyne Labtech and Bangor University have launched the Advanced Thermal Management for Space Electronics (ATMS) program to address heat removal in spacecraft, with support from Airbus Endeavr, a joint initiative between Airbus and the Welsh Government. The effort targets lighter, higher performance thermal solutions for space hardware. 
ATMS centers on replacing traditional copper heat co                NRL coronagraph on NOAA SWFO L1 will enhance space weather forecasts
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Compact Coronagraph-2 launched at 7:30 a.m. EDT on September 24 as the primary instrument on NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 observatory from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bound for a Lissajous orbit around L1. 
Upon commissioning at L1, the spacecraft will be renamed Space weather Observations at L1 to Advance Readiness 1, or SOLAR-1                Dream Chaser spaceplane set for first flight with expanded defense and commercial roles
Sierra Space announced it is advancing its Dream Chaser spaceplane toward a first free-flyer demonstration flight, with a launch planned for late 2026. The test mission will validate critical technologies and deliver data to NASA, while providing new flexibility for both civil and national security applications. 
The agreement with NASA shifts Dream Chaser's debut into a demonstration role,                