ESA Top Multimedia

In October 2025, the Artemis II Orion – complete with crew module, ESA’s European Service Module, solar arrays and launch abort system – was rolled 10 kilometres to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, for stacking onto the Space Launch System rocket.

Solaranlagen, die am Orion-Raumschiff der NASA für die Artemis II Mission im Operations and Checkout Building des Kennedy Space Centers der NASA installiert wurden, Anfang März 2025. Bildquelle: Lockheed Martin

This animation shows the satellites in orbit, which are part of IRIDE’s Eaglet II constellation.

Each one carries a multispectral sensor, which captures images of Earth’s surface, as well as an Automatic Identification System (AIS) to support vessel traffic services. The data will be used to provide core services for Italian public authorities, from monitoring Italy’s coastal areas, to land use and cover, and providing maps during emergency situations.

This video was published on social media by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot with the following caption:

Day 035, orbit 0541 – Three cargo vehicles departing the Station in just three weeks… and since I recorded this video, we also waved goodbye to a Progress!

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG23 was named S.S. William “Willie” McCool in honor of the NASA astronaut and naval aviator test pilot who perished in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident. Following a U.S. Navy tradition, Jack – who shares the same professional background – rang the Station bell to mark the spacecraft’s departure.

Follow Sophie’s mission on the εpsilon page and on her social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. 

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot began her training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where she studied spacecraft systems and crew operations — learning to think and act as an astronaut. Alongside this, she conditioned her body for spaceflight and prepared for the physical and operational demands of her mission.

Her preparation includes continuous medical training and support, neutral buoyancy training for spacewalks and immersive virtual reality sessions at ESA’s XR Lab.

This video features interviews with Bimba Hoyer, Flight Surgeon at ESA; Hervé Stevenin, Head of EVA & Parabolic Flight Training Unit and Head of the Neutral Buoyancy Facility; and Lionel Ferra, Software and Artificial Intelligence Team Leader at ESA.

During her mission aboard the International Space Station, Sophie Adenot will carry out a series of European-led experiments focused on health and crew autonomy.
Among them is the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D), a compact and versatile in-flight exercise system designed to support the future of human exploration. The mission also includes experiments conducted in collaboration with CADMOS, CNES’ centre dedicated to human spaceflight and microgravity research.
Alongside her scientific work, Sophie will contribute to several educational initiatives. Through ChlorISS (with CNES), she will grow seeds aboard the ISS while more than 260,000 students in over 4,000 schools replicate the experiment in their classrooms.
Students can also participate in the European Astro Pi Challenge, programming computers on the ISS to collect real orbital data, and in Mission X, where they train like astronauts through science and fitness challenges that promote healthy lifestyles on Earth and in space.
This video features interviews with Tobias Weber, Space Medicine Scientist at ESA, and Rémi Canton, Project Manager for Human Spaceflight at CADMOS.

Born in France in 1982, Sophie Adenot is an engineer, helicopter test pilot and colonel in the French Air and Space Force. Selected as an ESA astronaut in 2022, she completed her basic training at the European Astronaut Centre in 2024 and launched to the International Space Station on 13 February 2026 for her first mission, εpsilon.

Watch the launch of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot to the International Space Station (ISS), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. 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.