Image: The development of ESA’s Earth Explorer FLEX mission has recently passed a significant milestone: the mission’s all-important instrument has been joined to its satellite platform.

Combining 25 years of space-based data with ocean sampling, scientists have uncovered a change in the microscopic organisms that underpin the Southern Ocean’s food chain and carbon storage.

Copernicus soars into new heights with the launch of Sentinel-5A ldhoop Wed, 13/08/2025 – 15:30 Ariane62, carrying the Copernicus EU Sentinel-5A & MetOp-SG A1 to a Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of around 800 km. Following the launch of Copernicus Sentinel-4A last month, the European Union successfully launched the Copernicus Sentinel-5A to further monitor air…

Video: 00:01:36 Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts the Copernicus Sentinel-5 mission –  has launched aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time). MetOp-SG-A1 is the first in a series of three successive pairs of…

Ushering in a new era of weather and climate monitoring from polar orbit, the first in a new series of satellites, MetOp Second Generation, has been lofted into orbit aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. As part of this new satellite’s sophisticated instrument package is the new Copernicus…

Image: MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5 ready for liftoff

Video: 00:05:14 MetOp-SG-A1 travelled onboard the Canopée ship. Our teams at the European spaceport in French Guiana have been quite busy making sure both the rocket and the payloads are ready for flight VA264. Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts Copernicus Sentinel-5 as part of its instrument package – is…

Video: 00:01:45 Experience the preparation of the MetOp-SG-A1 satellite, hosting Copernicus Sentinel-5, scheduled for liftoff on an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 August 2025 at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time). This timelapse video captures key stages from the encapsulation within the Ariane 6 fairing to the…

Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite – which hosts Copernicus Sentinel-5 as part of its instrument package – is set for liftoff on an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 August 2025 at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time). Watch live on ESA Web TV One.

From the 16th to 20th of July 2025, the SOURCE CubeSat team from the University of Stuttgart conducted an environmental test campaign at ESA’s CubeSat Support Facility at ESEC-Galaxia in Libin, Belgium. Their goal: qualify the satellite’s in-house designed solar panel deployment system, marking a pivotal step forward in the satellite’s journey to space.