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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has started training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. Set to launch for her second mission in spring 2022, Samantha is already getting reacquainted with International Space Station systems in a series of refresher courses.

Samantha was last on the International Space Station in 2014 for her Futura mission. She spent 200 days in space, conducting European and international scientific experiments and Space Station operations.

In the coming months, her schedule will intensify as she trains for the specific experiments and tasks she will perform in space during her second mission.

As a collaborative, international effort between the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia and Japan, Space Station training takes place across the globe. Samantha will be training between Johnson Space Center in the USA, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia and the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Samantha and her fellow Class of 2009 astronauts will soon welcome new colleagues. For the first time in over a decade, the European Space Agency is seeking new astronauts and applications are open from 31 March to 28 May 2021. A six-stage selection process will start thereafter. This is expected to be completed in October 2022.

Ready to make #YourWayToSpace? Check out the dedicated website with all the information relating to ESA’s 2021–22 astronaut selection. 

Most importantly, get ready to apply. Perhaps you will find yourself where Samantha is today.

The ESAIL microsatellite for making the seas safer has picked up more than two million messages from 70 000 ships in a single day.

Following the selection of the first Scout satellite mission last December, ESA has also given the greenlight to start negotiations with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK to lead the development of the second Scout mission – HydroGNSS.

Following the selection of the first Scout satellite mission last December, ESA has also given the greenlight to start negotiations with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in the UK to lead the development of the second Scout mission – HydroGNSS.

The longest corridor in ESA’s largest establishment was turned into a test site for one of the Agency’s most ambitious future missions, Proba-3. The two satellites making up this mission will line up so that one casts a shadow onto the other, revealing inner regions of the Sun’s ghostly atmosphere. But such precision formation flying will only be possible through a vision-based sensor system allowing one satellite to lock onto the other.

Climate change is having an undeniable influence on coastal areas. A substantial proportion of the world’s sandy coastlines are already eroding owing to increased storm surges, flooding and sea level rise. With our coastal environments in constant change, Earth observation satellites are being used to better strengthen our knowledge of changing coastlines.

Climate change is having an undeniable influence on coastal areas. A substantial proportion of the world’s sandy coastlines are already eroding owing to increased storm surges, flooding and sea level rise. With our coastal environments in constant change, Earth observation satellites are being used to better strengthen our knowledge of changing coastlines.

New observations of asteroid Apophis – thought to pose a slight risk of impacting Earth in 2068 – rule out any chance of impact for at least a century. After 17 years of observations and orbit analysis, ESA is removing the enormous asteroid from its Risk List.

Week in images: 22 - 26 March 2021

Discover our week through the lens

Image: The enormous Ever Given container ship, wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal, is visible in new images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission.

The Gariep Dam, the largest dam in South Africa, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

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The second European Service Module that will power the Orion spacecraft on a crewed flyby of the Moon is fitted with a special engine at Airbus facilities in Germany.

This engine belonged to Space Shuttle Atlantis, and is one of five refurbished engines to be paired with the first five European Service Modules. Technicians carefully install the engine in Airbus’ cleanroom.

ESM is the powerhouse of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. It will provide critical functions such as the propulsion system to get astronauts to the Moon, and the consumables astronauts need to stay alive.

ESM-2 will fuel the crewed Orion spacecraft during a flyby of the Moon for Artemis 2 and is currently undergoing integration and other testing in Europe before it is delivered to NASA this summer.

Meanwhile in the United States, the first European Service Module is making its way to the launch pad as part of the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission test flight later this year. Next stop is fuelling, due to take place next week.

ESM is ESA’s contribution to NASA’s Artemis programme and includes involvement from 10 European nations.

ESA recently signed a contract with Airbus for the construction of three more European Service Modules (ESM) for Orion. These modules will be used for the Artemis IV to VI missions. The first two Modules in the contract are part of Europe’s contribution to the international lunar Gateway – a new space station around the Moon. 

For well over a decade, ESA’s SMOS satellite has been delivering a wealth of data to map moisture in soil and salt in the surface waters of the oceans for a better understanding of the processes driving the water cycle. While addressing key scientific questions, this exceptional Earth Explorer has repeatedly surpassed expectations by returning a wide range of unexpected results, often leading to practical applications that improve everyday life. Adding to SMOS’ list of talents, new findings show that what was considered noise in the mission’s data can actually be used to monitor solar activity and space weather, which can damage communication and navigation systems.

As part of its Boost! programme, ESA has signed two new contracts which support UK-based Orbex and Skyrora in their separate proposals for new commercial launch services for small satellites. These services are set to start in the UK from 2022.

ESA has awarded €7.45 m of co-funding to Orbex and its partners, and €3 m to Skyrora.

As part of its Boost! programme, ESA has signed two new contracts which support UK-based Orbex and Skyrora in their separate proposals for new commercial launch services for small satellites. These services are set to start in the UK from 2022.

ESA has awarded €7.45 m of co-funding to Orbex and its partners, and €3 m to Skyrora.

Video: 00:02:20

The SMOS satellite carries a novel interferometric radiometer that operates at a frequency of 1.4 GHz in the L-band microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum to capture 'brightness temperature' images. These images correspond to radiation emitted from Earth's surface, which scientists then use to derive information on soil moisture and ocean salinity. However, because of the wide field of view of SMOS' antenna, it doesn't just capture signals emitted from Earth's surface, but also signals from the Sun – which create noise in the brightness temperature images. These stray signals are valuable data for helping to monitor solar activity.

Read full story: Water mission takes on space weather

Credits: ©Planetary Visions (credit: ESA/Planetary Visions)

Image: Stretches of land across New South Wales, Australia, have been hit with torrential rain leading to record-breaking floods. Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission are being used to map flooded areas to help relief efforts.

Image: Lunar cave explorer

Data from ESA’s Gaia star mapping satellite have revealed tantalising evidence that the nearest star cluster to the Sun is being disrupted by the gravitational influence of a massive but unseen structure in our galaxy.

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As the climate crisis continues to impact life on Earth, ESA is using data beamed to the ground from satellites to boost scientists’ understanding of the evolving environment and help people cut planet-warming emissions.

These activities are coordinated by the ESA Climate Office, a focal point for climate-related projects that is based at the agency’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications in the UK.

In this video, Paul Fisher, knowledge transfer and communications manager at the Climate Office, explains the role of space in tackling climate change.

Since the pre-industrial era, Earth’s temperature has risen by around 1°C. This is linked to many other changes, including rising sea-levels and receding glaciers.

The Climate Office delivers the ESA Climate Change Initiative, a research programme that transforms satellite data into global climate observations that are increasing understanding of these long-term trends.

Data from the initiative is enabling climate modellers to better predict future changes to the polar ice sheets, oceans and forests as the world continues to heat up.

Governments and organisations can use these forecasts to make decisions that will help to limit global warming and enable society to adapt to its effects.