European Space Agency

ESA, in its latest update, puts the probably of impact at 0.16%.

New spins on NASA-developed heat shield technologies paved the way for an era of reusable space vehicles.

An alternate proposal tests the limits of the agency’s use of commercial services.

The demonstration, under project HydRON—for High-Throughput Optical Space Network—builds on studies Thales Alenia Space led and completed in 2023.

NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost is set to undergo installation and testing of valves and hatches, leak checks and integration of external structures.

The Exploration Company will test a demonstrator of its Nyx capsule designed to transport cargo to low Earth orbit and back in June, DLR says.

Scheduled for launch in April, the ESA's Biomass mission features a novel a 100-watt, P-band synthetic aperture radar.

ESA, in a Feb. 10 announcement, said the study is a precursor to a potential optical time synchronization and ranging (OpSTAR) in-orbit demonstration.

ESA says a group of astronomers asked for the powerful James Webb telescope to gather more data on the asteroid and that the tasking has been accepted.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The European Space Agency says the risk of the 2024 YR4 asteroid crashing into Earth has gone up since an initial assessment it made late last month.

French space agency CNES, operator of Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, is preparing a new contractual relationship with launcher manufacturer Avio.

ESA has signed an $897 million contract with Thales Alenia Space for the manufacturer to deliver cargo to the lunar surface under ESA’s Argonaut Mission.

The European Space Agency says that as of Jan. 29 “the probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 may impact Earth on 22 December 2032 is 1.2%.”

Planet Labs says it has secured a $230 million contract to build Pelican high-resolution satellites for an unnamed customer and announced a data provision deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the Copernicus program.

ESA has signed a deal with Thales Alenia Space to build the EnVision spacecraft to explore Venus from its inner core to upper atmosphere, the company said.

Shifting geopolitical realities are driving European space leaders to push defense and security up the space agenda.

Europe aims to resume flying the Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket on Feb. 26, with the launch set to be the first managed by Arianespace.

ESA scientists say liquid water may not yet have been discovered on another planet because observation has not focused long enough on a given star.

The rocket company plans to fly its launcher from the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Led by France’s Tikehau Capital, the late-stage funding round was also joined by a trio of other venture capital (VC) firms.

ESA is prepping for launch of the Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars (Plato) mission, with the telescope to lift off on an Ariane 62 late next year.

To make up ground it is losing to SpaceX, China and others, Europe is looking to infuse greater competition into its space launch industry.

The details of the European Launcher Challenge are still in the works.

The revised plan shaves billions from projected program costs.