ESA Top Multimedia

Timelapse showing the steps to build the most powerful version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

The video shows the central core of the rocket arriving at the launch pad on 21 January 2026, where it was raised upright and placed on the launch table on the same day.

Then launch technicians added the first booster, second booster, third booster and the final, fourth booster over ending on the 22 January. Next the upper part including the 32 Amazon Leo satellites was added to the top of the rocket on 9 February.

On launch day the mobile hangar that houses Ariane 6 was rolled away to reveal the rocket to the stars, followed by liftoff.

This first launch of the four-booster version of Ariane 6, operated by Arianespace, took 32 satellites for Amazon’s Leo constellation to low-Earth orbit. Liftoff occurred at 13:45 local time (16:45 GMT/17:45 CET) on 12 February, with separation of the last satellites occurring after 114 minutes.

James Webb Space Telescope spots faint asteroid 2024 YR4 - 26 February 2026

This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to one of the most visually remnants of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543.

Here, the nebula is showcased through the combined eyes of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA’s Euclid, highlighting the remarkable complexity of stellar death.

This extraordinary planetary nebula lies in the constellation Draco and has captivated astronomers for decades with its elaborate and multilayered structure.

Planetary nebulae, so-called because of their round shape when viewed through early telescopes, are in fact expanding gas thrown off by stars in their final stages of evolution. It was the Cat’s Eye Nebula itself where this fact was first discovered in 1864 – examining the spectrum of its light reveals the emission from individual molecules that’s characteristic of a gas, distinguishing planetary nebulae from stars and galaxies. 

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Access all formats of the video (for broadcasters).

Total retreat of 31 key glaciers/ice shelves, 1996-2024

In this first webinar of the Monitoring Climate from Space series, Michael Buchwitz (University of Bremen), provides an overview of the current status of space-based observations of CO₂ and methane, and explains how atmospheric concentrations are retrieved from satellite measurements and how these data are used to assess human-made emissions and natural sinks. The session also highlights the ESA GHG-CCI project and its links to wider climate services and related application-focused initiatives.

Join our latest monthly webinar series showcasing the latest climate science from the ESA-CCI ECV projects. Find out more: https://climate.esa.int/en/climate-change-initiative-training/webinars/

On 26 February, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot conducted her first in-flight call with selected French media.

Access the related broadcast quality video material. 

Orbital plumbing maintenance aboard the International Space Station

The Greta engine firing up on a new mobile test stand in Trauen, Germany. Greta was ignited multiple times from July to November 2025 and showed stable operations, including controlled shutdowns. During the test campaign the engine fired continuously for over 40 seconds at a time.

The Greta project, part of the European Space Agency’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme is developing a 5 kN thrust class rocket engine that can be restarted reliably several times.

Greta uses hydrogen peroxide and ethanol as propellants, a more sustainable alternative with a lower carbon footprint compared to monomethyl hydrazine propellant used by most traditional rocket engines in this thrust range.

Greta was tested on a new, low-cost and versatile mobile test stand with instruments measuring data such as pressure and temperature, which will be used to further optimise the engine.

Greta’s 30-cm high combustion chamber is built up in layers by melting metal powders with a laser. This technique allows for complex shapes to be made that would be difficult to achieve with conventional metallurgy. For example, the Greta engine is cooled by passing fluid through complex channels built into the engine as close as possible to the inner wall of the chamber which is in contact with the hot – over 2000°C – combustion gases.

ArianeGroup in Ottobrunn, Germany is the prime contractor for Greta. This type of engine could be used on lunar landers or on kick stages, such as Astris that is being developed for Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket.

The joint European-Chinese Smile mission will launch this spring from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on a Vega-C rocket.

The rocket will place Smile into an almost-circular orbit around Earth’s poles.

Over the following month, Smile will gradually alter its orbit, firing its engines as it flies over Antarctica. Its final orbit will take it 121 000 km above the North Pole to collect information on Earth’s magnetic field and the northern lights, before flying close over the South Pole to deliver its data.

This special orbit will enable Smile to spend about 80% of its time at high altitude above the northern hemisphere, collecting continuous observations of the northern lights for 45 hours at a time.

After Smile has reached this final ‘science orbit’, it will deploy a three-metre-long boom that carries two magnetometer sensors at the end. These sensors will measure the strength and direction of magnetic fields around the spacecraft.

Known as ‘MAG’, data from this science instrument will be combined with data from Smile’s X-ray camera, ultraviolet camera, and particle detector to give humankind its first complete look at how Earth reacts to streams of particles and bursts of radiation from the Sun.

By improving our understanding of the solar wind, solar storms and space weather, Smile will fill a stark gap in our understanding of the Solar System and help keep our technology and astronauts safe in the future.

Watch Smile’s launch and solar panel deployment (artist impression) here.

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot during one of her first workouts at the start of the εpsilon mission.

The SpaceX Dragon carrying four Crew-12 members, including ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, nears the International Space Station for a docking to the Harmony module’s space-facing port.

Crew-12 Walkout with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot

Watch the highlights of the launch of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot to the International Space Station (ISS) on Crew-12. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA, on Friday 13 February 2026 at 10:15 GMT/11:15 CET (5:15 local time).

Sophie flies as mission specialist. The other Crew-12 members are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, respectively commander and pilot of the mission, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, mission specialist.

The French ESA astronaut is the first of her class, the Hoppers, to fly. Sophie has chosen the name εpsilon for her mission, which may last up to nine months. On board the Station, she will conduct a wide range of tasks, including European-led scientific experiments and medical research, support Earth observation activities, and contribute to operations and maintenance on the Station.

Watch the full launch replay. 

Crew-12 upon their arrival at the Kennedy Space Center

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing to launch to the International Space Station for her first space mission: εpsilon.

After years of intensive training — from emergency procedures to spacewalk simulations — the countdown has begun. Flying alongside astronauts from NASA and Roscosmos, Sophie will join an international crew living and working together in space.

Aboard the ISS, Sophie will live and work in microgravity, conducting scientific research and performing a range of European- and French-led experiments that advance knowledge for life on Earth and in space.

Join us live on YouTube to watch the launch of Sophie Adenot.