#ESATech @ the European Space Agency. Follow the latest news, developments and new technologies from ESA's R&D Directorate
ESTEC Noordwijk, Netherlands
- Tweets 8,511
- Following 633
- Followers 38,082
- Likes 1,829
Metre-sized meteoroid 2026 RW1 (previously known as CERNQ52) hit the ocean off NW Australia on Sunday afternoon - but the impact was forecast roughly six hours in advance, using ESA’s Meerkat automated system for predicting imminent impactors!
neo.ssa.esa.int/imminent-imp…
ALT Imminent impactor map
2
4
15
1,415
🎬Our double-satellite Proba-3 eclipse-making mission profiled on Astrum 👉 youtu.be/fv5lJjR6DmQ?is=yNKx…
7
21
3,605
You’re left with a showstopper bake that is sure to impress the judges – oh wait – we mean the planetary protection experts, of course! 😉
Your squeaky-clean parachute is ready to safely land the #ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover on Mars.
Here’s how the experts do it: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
@ESA_Exomars @esaspaceflight
ALT Engineers inspect a packaged parachute for the ExoMars mission before sterilisation
2
6
23
850
Tech startups assemble - at our recent Demo Day at @SBICNoordwijk.
Read about how @ESA's Business Incubation Centres grew into the largest incubation network in Europe in our latest annual Highlights publication (starting p24): esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
ALT Tech startups at ESA's Noordwijk Business Incubucation Centre
1
3
10
1,400
Where there’s a wing there’s a way!
Time-lapse of a section of aircraft wing being 3D printed in lightweight plastic. Startup Wren Aerospace – based at @SBICNoordwijk – is developing uncrewed aircraft to perform satellite-like communication or observation functions while hanging in the stratosphere wrenaerospace.com/
3
4
17
2,256
Check out ESA's 50 milestone achievements during our first half century in our ESA Delivers brochure: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
6
19
1,329
One small step for a European... On this day in history - 20 Oct 1995 - ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter performed the first ESA spacewalk, during his Euromir mission to the Mir space station
2
11
55
4,920
🌈 Leiden Canal Pride Parade 2025: ESA Joins the Celebration Again! 🌈
We’re thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, ESA ESTEC, our technical heart in the Netherlands, will proudly participate in the Leiden Canal Pride Parade! 🚣🏾♀️🏳️🌈
Join us on Saturday at 13:30 CEST as the boat parade sets off from the beautiful Galgewater, sailing through Leiden’s stunning historic city center until about 17:00 CEST.
Here’s the route we’ll be cruising:
- Departure from Galgewater
- Clockwise sailing to Turfmarkt
- Passing through Oude Singel/Oude Vest
- Along the Haven
- Following the Oude Rijn
- And rounding off at Apothekersdijk
- Ending back at the Galgewater
Come cheer us on and let’s celebrate diversity together! #SpaceForAll ❤️
#canalprideleiden #prideleiden #pride
ALT Route of Leiden Canal Pride Parade 2025
ALT ESA ESTEC at Leiden Canal Pride Parade 2024
1
13
873
Read all our 50 hallmark achievements to mark ESA's first half century in our ESA Delivers booklet, downloadable here: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
2
6
547
Today at #ESTEC in 🇳🇱 we celebrate 30 years of ESA Navigation activities, which resulted in the world's most accurate satellite navigation system, Galileo - one of our 50 hallmark achievements in our 50 year anniversary!
ALT Entry in the ESA Delivers booklet
1
10
19
1,294
📢 You are invited to the 7th @esa #Quantum Technology Conference, the reference point and hub for European institutions, space industry, and academia involved in quantum technologies for space! 📅 7-9 October in Crete, Greece at @FORTH_ITE. Early bird registration still open: nikal.eventsair.com/7th-quan…
ALT ESA's 7th Quantum Technology Conference 2025
2
4
6
1,046
OK, so it’s hot – but is it unusually hot? ESA satellites have been tracking the temperature of Earth’s oceans (where most excess atmospheric heat goes) for the past 3 decades to help tackle this question…
Just one of our agency’s hallmark achievements listed in our new #ESADelivers publication – read the other 49 here! esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
ALT A page from the ESA Decides booklet showing satellite radiometers at work
2
8
2,232
An agency is defined by taking action - so what has the European Space Agency been doing during its first 50 years? Find out in our new brochure: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
ALT A double page spread from the ESA Delivers brochure
2
4
630
ESA Delivers: discover 50 ways Europe’s space agency changed our world (& the universe!) during the last five decades: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
3
9
17
3,318
Proba-3: we did it! 🛰️🛰️☀️
Stay tuned for the first images of the mission’s artificial solar eclipse, coming later today!
@redwire @infoGMV @esaoperations @esascience
2
27
101
9,872
#HeraMission has a voice now! Thanks to developers at Terra Mater Studios, impactAI and @Microsoft, you can now talk to Hera about her space journey. Curious how she feels after having recently flown by Mars and its moon Deimos? Take a listen 🔊👇
Have a chat with Hera Space Companion here 🤖 👉 hera.space
15
34
5,635
From the 1st 3D-printed metal in space to model rendezvous testing, a seed-sized space amplifier to explorations of our Mars Yard, are #ESATech activities highlighted in the new #ESAImpact, our photographic summary of the European space in 2025 so far: esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publica…
ALT First 3D-printed metal in orbit returned to ESA lab
ALT Satellite model plus camera used to simulate close approach in space
ALT Seed-sized space signal amplifier developed by ESA
ALT Students explore Planetary Robotics Lab
6
24
1,169
Any more questions about our #HeraMission Mars flyby? Why not ask our mission AI itself - the Hera Space Companion is ready to talk to you directly, featuring a brand new voice function! hera.space/
5
11
45
3,965
Revealed: the first images from @ESA's #HeraMission gravity-assist flyby of Mars! esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/He…
12
196
687
77,548
What is #HeraMission seeing during its gravity-assist flyby of Mars? Initially its view centres on the vast Terra Arabia / Terra Sabaea plain, shifting south to heavily cratered highlands, passing into night beside the vast Hellas Basin, among the Solar System's largest impact craters
ALT Topographic views of Mars seen by Hera during its flyby
1
14
45
2,428
Our real-time simulation of Hera’s flyby around Mars starts now: youtu.be/KILqbZon5EY?si=EJrS…
2
20
69
12,087
‘Here there be dragons’ was scrawled on medieval maps. Today space holds ‘dragons’ of its own: radiation belts surrounding Earth & other planets & storms from the Sun that travel far into space. Engineers work to safeguard space missions from such dangers esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
ALT Space radiation penetrating Earth's magnetosphere to impact satellites
2
25
72
3,330
Close-up of a cloud chamber showing the passage of charged particles from background radiation and cosmic rays. Radiation reaches everywhere, but is extremely plentiful in space - posing hazards for satellites esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
8
26
1,055
Greener, connected and more efficient 🌱📈
#ESTEC, @esa's technical heart, will undergo a transformation thanks to this ambitious project 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
ALT Model of ESTEC Accelerated Investment Project (AIP)
ALT ESTEC transformation
ALT ESTEC campus after transformation
13
760
🌌To venture deeper into space, we will need autonomous systems that operate independently of ground control. @AirbusSpace supported by @esa developed an #AI demonstrator to improve fault detection onboard the Columbus module of the #ISS
👉esa.int/Enabling_Support/Pre…
ALT ESA's Columbus lab module, part of the International Space Station
2
22
67
2,886
The best place to test new space technologies? Space! 🚀 At the 17th #EuropeanSpaceConf @BBE_Europe, @esa's TEC Director signed a deal with a pool of small satellite companies that will take promising technologies to space for testing as part of @EU_Commission’s programme to boost space tech innovators 👉 esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
📸ESA - P. Sebirot
ALT Ekaterini Kavvada (EC) and Dietmar Pilz (ESA) with representatives of the small satellite companies
3
7
33
4,357
On Day 1 of #EuropeanSpaceConf @BBE_Europe 🛰️ @esa's Ian Carnelli presented the first-of-its-kind eclipse-making Proba-3 mission. Here’s how the twin satellites will be creating artificial solar eclipses on demand 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Video…
📸ESA - P. Sebirot
ALT ESA's Ian Carnelli presenting the Proba-3 mission at the 17th European Space Conference in Brussels.
1
6
27
4,360
Space is getting crowded 🚦To manage the growing traffic, Blackswan Space 🇱🇹 are developing an autonomous camera system which can approach or avoid objects in space with the help of AI – just like self-driving cars. Blackswan tested their technology with @esa's GRALS simulator, using a robotic arm and a scale-model satellite, recreating a space rendezvous 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
ALT Blackswan testing their autonomous camera system using ESA's GRALS
1
16
27
1,532
Shuttle between orbits 🔴🚀 @esa’s LightShip initiative aims to make future trips to Mars more frequent and affordable. Consortia led by @Argotec_Space, @Deimos_Space_, @polimi & @SITAELspa, and @redwire are now exploring what LightShip’s passenger spacecraft could look like 👉esa.int/Enabling_Support/Pre…
ALT Artist's impression of LightShip
7
64
172
26,950
Seed-sized space chip🤏The task of this tiny signal amplifier designed by @esa is to boost faint signals to usable levels, making future radar-based and telecommunications space missions possible📡
👉esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
ALT tiny space chip held in tweezers and compared to a needle
2
7
18
1,538
Proba-3 twin satellites separated!🛰️🛰️Under the watchful eye of operations team at @esa's ESEC, the pair said goodbye to each other last night, 14 January 23:00 GMT. When their Sun-observing mission starts, the two will adopt a stable configuration at 150 m away from each other, ready to create artificial eclipses on demand☀️esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
ALT Proba-3 satellites after separation
6
87
273
35,948
Got a VR headset for Christmas? Try travelling through space with our @ESA_Hera asteroid mission - download DIVE's *free* Guardians of Earth app for anyone with Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3 or 3S VR glasses esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
ALT Hera leaves Earth shown in VR app
ALT Seeing inside Hera using VR app
ALT Hera VR app
ALT Hera VR app options
8
25
1,998
Just like the movie The Martian, on 🔴Mars nothing will be wasted. A new #ESADiscovery project investigated the feasibility of turning used astronaut wastewater into methane fuel to help get home: esa.int/Enabling_Support/Pre…
ALT Artist's impression of an astronaut monitors fuel conversion on Mars
2
11
46
2,688
Our Large Diameter Centrifuge in motion up to 67 revs per second, generating hypergravity up to 20 times Earth normal!
The LDC is open to researchers worldwide thanks to @UNOOSA; a Philippines team just used it to boost bone cell growth for biomedical applications: esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
1
2
10
639
Researchers from the Philippines 🇵🇭made use of ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge to test the growth of bone cells in hypergravity. The results of their experiment could improve bone implant technology - as well as help support seaweed farming communities esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
ALT Phillipines team at ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge
ALT Seaweed farming
1
13
742
📢 Calling European satnav stakeholders: registration now open for 𝗘𝗦𝗔 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗡𝗔𝗩 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱!
🗓 18 February 2025
📍 ESA ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Come learn about ESA's vision for the future of navigation, contribute to driving this vision, explore emerging opportunities & connect with ESA & industry leaders ESA 👉
esa.int/Applications/Satelli…
ALT Navigation Day visual
4
16
1,364
📢 Calling European satnav stakeholders: registration now open for 𝗘𝗦𝗔 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗡𝗔𝗩 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱!
🗓 18 February 2025
📍 ESA ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Come learn about ESA's vision for the future of navigation, contribute to driving this vision, explore emerging opportunities & connect with ESA & industry leaders ESA 👉
esa.int/Applications/Satelli…
ALT Navigation Day visual
2
9
607
A fall of CubeSats... A quartet of @ESA shoebox-sized missions reentered Earth's atmosphere recently, concluding busy working lives doing everything from monitoring solar storms' effects on Earth's magnetic field to trading cryptocurrency from orbit👉esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
ALT GOMX-4 satellite pair
3
28
88
16,635
The second RISC-V in Space Workshop (RVIS25) will take place from April 2nd to 3rd , 2025 in Gothenburg, Sweden, exploring the latest innovations, applications, and challenges of open source RISC-V technology for space. Abstract submissions now open! 👉indico.esa.int/event/562/
5
14
702
ESA expands space knowhow by encouraging new actors into the field: 🇵🇱Polish software company N7 Space - previously specialising in smartphone apps - took on the challenge of designing the operating system for eclipse-making Proba-3's main instrument: esa.int/About_Us/Business_wi…
ALT Proba-3 double spacecraft aligned with the Sun
1
13
53
1,336
A key location in space engineering, recreated using @LEGO_Group: this is a copy in miniature of the Concurrent Design Facility at ESA’s technical centre #ESTEC in 🇳🇱, responsible for originating numerous European space missions: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
ALT Lego model of ESA Concurrent Design Facility
4
34
2,122
Satellites in orbit can become absentminded. Space radiation randomly flips onboard memory bits, potentially corrupting mission data & functionality. So a team analysed rad-effects on ESA’s 3 Swarm spacecraft over 10 years of Earth's magnetic field mapping esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
ALT Three satellite Swarm constellation
ALT Space radiation affecting satellites
ALT Swarm orbit around Earth to measure its magnetic field variations
ALT Geolocation of Swarm radiation errors
8
33
166
17,704
As Proba-3 undergoes commissioning, its startrackers
(cameras linked to constellation-spotting computers) track the orientation of the slowly-spinning spacecraft. Here’s a peek at their first images, including a photobomb from planet Earth!
ALT Proba-3 Startracker view
ALT Proba-3 Startracker image with view of Earth
3
33
172
26,729
How the Proba-3 team at @ISRO SHAR base in India experienced the launch: blogs.esa.int/proba-3/2024/1…
ALT Proba-3 spacecraft separation from launcher
2
15
74
2,362
🚀🌞The @ISRO Proba-3 launch transmission from India's SHAR base is live! Watch here: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_W…
ALT PSLV-XL launcher on pad
9
58
2,384
Read how ESA's Proba-3 team in India got to visit the @ISRO PSLV-XL on its launch pad after roll back: blogs.esa.int/proba-3/2024/1…
ALT Proba-3 team by launch pad
3
34
551
8,217
