Latest news on the European Space Agency's launches, projects and developments in space transportation @esa
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Transportation is not only about taking payloads to space: we also need to transport them safely here on Earth.
One of our next passengers, Metop-SG-B1, has been transferred to a cleanroom and removed from its container.
Launch preparations are ongoing at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
ALT Team working on transporting Metop-SG-B1 at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
@Arianespace is the launch service provider for #MetOpSGB1 on flight #VA272. Liftoff is from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 62.
@ArianeGroup is the prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launcher, with @ESA responsible for the development of the Ariane 6 launch system.
Hot stuff 🔥
The Prometheus reusable rocket engine completed several hot-fire tests at the recently upgraded P5 test bench in Lampoldshausen, Germany.
This round of tests included a new combustion chamber made using cold gas spray, an additive manufacturing process.
📸 @ArianeGroup @DLR_de @DLR_en @esa
ALT Prometheus engine firing during a hot-fire test at the P5 test bench.
The P5 test bench was recently upgraded to operate with liquid methane, allowing for a quick switch between oxygen and methane.
Here, Prometheus reignited multiple times without a high-pressure starter system, by relying on engine inlet pressures – a first for an engine of this class in Europe.
Read more: esa.int/articles/about-us/di…
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ESA Space Transport retweeted
Meet Argonaut: Europe's lunar lander programme 🌙
🚀 Launching on Ariane 6 rockets by end of 2030, Argonaut will deliver technology demonstrators 🤖, infrastructure 🏗️, science 🔬 and cargo 📦 to the Moon.
🔗esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
ALT An Argonaut lander on the right, the wide lunar desert to the left, with hills and valleys. Credit: ESA-XR Lab.
An @esa project developed a new tool that generates complete life-cycle assessments of space hardware.
The software can aid the eco-design of spacecraft, launchers, ground stations and complete missions.
The ACT tool is being developed by EcoDeltaV:
esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
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RT @Arianespace: 🚀 VA267 – LE-04 : Ariane 6's 10th flight is on the horizon!
Arianespace is preparing to launch 36 Amazon Leo satellites a…
Live now: watch.esa.int/two/
The fifth edition of ESA's FLPP Autumn Session is happening tomorrow 🍂
Once again, this event will bring together ESA, industry, investor and Member State delegates to review progress across Europe’s space transportation activities.
Livestream starts on 14 October 14:00 CEST at ESA Web TV 2.
For more information, visit the website: spacetransportation.esa.int/…
ALT Watch live - FLPP Autumn Session 2026. ESA Future Space Transportation, 14 October 2026, 14:00, Salons de l'Aveyron, Paris.
The fifth edition of ESA's FLPP Autumn Session is happening tomorrow 🍂
Once again, this event will bring together ESA, industry, investor and Member State delegates to review progress across Europe’s space transportation activities.
Livestream starts on 14 October 14:00 CEST at ESA Web TV 2.
For more information, visit the website: spacetransportation.esa.int/…
ALT Watch live - FLPP Autumn Session 2026. ESA Future Space Transportation, 14 October 2026, 14:00, Salons de l'Aveyron, Paris.
ESA Space Transport retweeted
“This moment could be historic.”
At #IAC2026, we discussed Europe’s future in exploration with our Member States, ahead of key decisions at the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting this December.
🔗esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_n…
ALT IAU CPS Director Piero Benvenuti and ESA Director of Operations Rolf Densing
ALT Géraldine Naja with the WIA-Europe award
ALT IAC 2026: Europe’s exploration ambition
ESA Space Transport retweeted
Sentinel-3C sent its first views of Earth!
🔗esa.int/Applications/Observi…
Envisioned, built, and launched by Europe.
@ESA keeps delivering the reliable satellites that enable the @EU_Commission's world-leading Copernicus programme.
And now, Sentinel-3C is showing us what it can do.
esa.int/Applications/Observi…
ALT Sentinel-3C's first image over Italy
Today at #IAC2026, our Director, Géraldine Naja, received the WIA-Europe the Outstanding Achievement Award 🧡
This award distinguishes women with exceptional accomplishments and leadership qualities.
Awards like this serve as a source of inspiration for future generations.
Read more: wia-europe.org/2026/10/03/co…
📸 credits: jonasphotto
ALT Director of ESA's Space Transportation receiving an award.
Second fuelling rehearsal ✅
Themis, @esa's reusable rocket stage demonstrator, has complete its second 'wet dress rehearsal' at Esrange Space Center in Sweden on 29 September.
The rocket prototype was filled with liquid nitrogen to test the complete system.
ALT Themis standing on its legs during second wet dress rehearsal at Esrange Space Center in Sweden.
As a reusable launcher, Themis is designed to touchdown on land within an area of just 20 x 20 square metres.
There, robots will move towards the launcher and connect to it, draining any remaining fuel and oxidiser.
esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
Check out this interview from our Director of Space Transportation, Géraldine Naja ⬇️
air-cosmos.latribune.fr/arti…
We teamed up with @DLR_en to record rocket emissions 🚀
On 1 October, DLR launched a sounding rocket called Mapheus-17.
But, before liftoff, something else took off: an aircraft called Falcon 20E, which flew through the rocket plume and circle around, collecting as much data as possible.
ALT Infographic showing a rocket lifting-off and an aircraft going through the plume. Molecules appear inside a cloud.
The experiment, called Firewall, not only recorded emissions soon after launch, but continued monitoring as the released molecules interacted with the compounds present in the atmosphere, to possibly form different molecules.
On the ground, other instruments also collected complementary data.
Read more ⬇️
esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
What have we done last month?
🚀 We launched FLEX and Sentinel-3C on the same Vega-C rocket
🚀 Isar Aerospace's Spectrum launcher achieved the first launch to orbit from continental Europe
September may have ended, but we keep going!
youtube.com/watch?v=FyTnJa23…
ESA Space Transport retweeted
📣 Journalists are invited to attend our Intermediate Ministerial Meeting in Rome on 15 December, where ESA Member States will discuss Europe’s future in space exploration.
📰 Register by 30 October: esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Relea…
#IMM26
ALT The opening session at the 2025 Ministerial Council in Bremen, Germany
ESA Space Transport retweeted
A busy few months for ESA! Catch up with the latest ESA Impact visual report, featuring the launch of FLEX and Sentinel-3C, three spacewalks in 15 days, new milestones on BepiColombo's journey to Mercury and more.
🔗 esamultimedia.esa.int/multim…