ESA Top Multimedia

Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.

Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges.  

The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument.

Copernicus Sentinel-4 will be the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit, providing hourly information that will transform how we predict air pollution across Europe, using its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light (UVN) spectrometer.

Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.

Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges.  

The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument.

Copernicus Sentinel-4 will be the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit, providing hourly information that will transform how we predict air pollution across Europe, using its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light (UVN) spectrometer.

Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.

Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges.  

The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument.

Copernicus Sentinel-4 will be the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit, providing hourly information that will transform how we predict air pollution across Europe, using its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light (UVN) spectrometer.

A powerful heatwave has been gripping large parts of southern Europe. This image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission’s Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on 29 June 2025, reveals the temperature of the land surface.

Space chef Anne-Sophie Pic together with the French astronaut Sophie Adenot at a tasting in Paris

MTG-S1 hosting Sentinel-4 transported inside the Falcon 9 fairing

Timelapse of Europe’s first reusable rocket main stage demonstrator – Themis – getting wrapped and prepared for shipment, ready to head to its launch pad at Esrange Space Centre in Sweden.

Themis encompasses all the elements for a reusable rocket stage. The Themis programme includes developing the flight test model that requires new technologies from European countries such as the vehicle landing legs, grid-fin aerodynamic stabilisers, light-weight fuel tanks, distributed power systems, avionics and reduced-diameter multi-engine bay. New flight algorithms, derived from previous European projects, will be key to make Themis land safely after flight.

Themis was developed as a European Space Agency future launchers preparatory programme with ArianeGroup as prime contractor and multiple European industrial partners. Themis’s first flight campaign is being funded by the European Commission Salto programme.

A starburst shines in infrared (MIRI)

Ignis ignited

This animation shows how the Copernicus Sentinel-4 ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared (UVN) spectrometer, mounted on the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellite (MTG-S1), is able to observe nitrogen dioxide over Europe and northern Africa (NO2 data kindly provided by CAMS).

Nitrogen dioxide is a trace gas that forms in our atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned.

The UVN spectrometer, on board MTG-S1, orbits Earth in a geostationary orbit. It is the first mission to monitor European air quality from this orbit, which means it maintains its position – at 36 000 km from Earth’s surface – over the equator as the Earth rotates. 

The instrument measures sunlight reflected by Earth’s surface and atmosphere, as well as light arriving both directly from the Sun. When light passes through the atmosphere, trace gases leave a signature, or ‘fingerprint’, on the light arriving at the satellite. These signatures are resolved by the UVN spectrometer and are exploited to estimate the amount of the trace gases present in the atmosphere.

This animation demonstrates why the asteroid 2024 YR4 was only discovered two days after it  passed Earth in December 2024, and why we will have to wait three years to know for certain whether it will impact the Moon on 22 December 2032. 

2024 YR4 approached Earth from the day side of the planet, from a region of the sky hidden by the bright light of the Sun. This region is a significant blind spot for our current asteroid warning systems. 

In mid-2025, it faded from view from humankind’s most powerful telescopes. While astronomers were able to study the asteroid for long enough to rule out an Earth impact in 2032, it was left with a 4% chance of impacting the Moon. 

The orbits of Earth and 2024 YR4 line up every four years, and so we must now wait until mid-2028 for astronomers to continue studying its trajectory. When the asteroid returns into view, they will be able to confirm, or much more likely, rule out a lunar impact in 2032. 

The yellow area represents the region where the brightness of the Sun makes it impossible to observe an asteroid. The blue area represents the region in which it is possible to observe an asteroid. The black area represents the region in which an asteroid is too faint to observe. The exact shape and size of these areas depends on the telescope being used. The regions shown here are representative of a generic, powerful, Earth-based, optical telescope. The red line indicates the trajectory of asteroid 2024 YR4 during three encounters with Earth in 2024, 2028 and 2032. 

The animation was created using the Synodic Orbit Visualisation Tool developed by ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre. The tool allows users to visualise the orbits of near-Earth objects (NEOs) in a rotating reference frame that keeps a line connecting Earth and the Sun fixed in place. The primary purpose of the tool is to help users determine when and how an NEO will be visible from Earth. 

On 26 June 2025 ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and his crewmates arrived to the International Space Station on the Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4).
The Polish project astronaut is the second of a new generation of European astronauts to fly on a commercial human spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space.
Sponsored by the Polish government and supported by ESA, the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MRiT), and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the mission will include an ambitious technological and scientific programme with several experiments led by ESA and proposed by the Polish space industry.

Access the related broadcast quality footage: Launch campaign / Training

Topography of Arcadia Planitia

While satellites have revolutionised our ability to measure sea level with remarkable precision, their data becomes less reliable near coasts – where accurate information is most urgently needed. To address this critical gap, ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Sea Level Project research team has reprocessed almost two decades of satellite data to establish a pioneering network of ‘virtual’ coastal stations. These stations now provide, for the first time, reliable and consistent sea-level measurements along coastlines.

Read full story: First sea-level records for coastal community protection