ESA Observing the Earth

French synergy

Sentinel-3A dances with northern lights

A surprising view of Sentinel-3A darting through the green flicker of the aurora borealis on its way into orbit has been captured on video from a hilltop in northern Finland.

Climate Service workshop

Earth from Space

App Camp begins

Revisit the launch

Third Sentinel in orbit

Third Sentinel satellite launched for Copernicus

The third ESA-developed satellite carrying four Earth-observing instruments was launched today, ready to provide a ‘bigger picture’ for Europe’s Copernicus environment programme.

Liftoff replay

Liftoff replay

Launch replay

Eye on oceans

All dressed up with somewhere to go

Yesterday, a ‘team of teams’ working at ESA’s control centre conducted a final rehearsal for tomorrow’s launch of Sentinel-3A.

Follow the launch event

Living Planet doors open

Sentinel-3A poised for liftoff

With four days to liftoff, the next Sentinel satellite for Copernicus is now on the launch pad at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.

The rocket will be fuelled the day before the launch – set for 16 February at 17:57 GMT (18:57 CET).

The Sentinel family

Madrid

Earth from Space

Sentinel-3 family grows

The signature of a €450 million contract to build two more satellites for the Sentinel-3 mission was celebrated by ESA and Thales Alenia Space of France at an event in Paris yesterday.

Nature valued from space

Earth from Space

Antarctic ice safety band at risk

Antarctica is surrounded by huge ice shelves. New research, using ice velocity data from satellites such as ESA’s heritage Envisat, has revealed that there is a critical point where these shelves act as a safety band, holding back the ice that flows towards the sea. If lost, it could be the point of no return.

Antarctic ice safety band at risk

Antarctica is surrounded by huge ice shelves. New research, using ice velocity data from satellites such as ESA’s heritage Envisat, has revealed that there is a critical point where these shelves act as a safety band, holding back the ice that flows towards the sea. If lost, it could be the point of no return.

Antarctic ice safety band at risk

Antarctica is surrounded by huge ice shelves. New research, which includes using data from satellites such as ESA’s heritage Envisat, has revealed that there is a critical point where these shelves act as a safety band, holding back the ice that flows towards the sea. If lost, it could be the point of no return.

Earth from Space

Proba-V eyes Bolivia’s vanishing lake

Monitoring Earth’s surface every day, ESA’s Proba-V minisatellite has had a ringside seat as the second largest lake in Bolivia gradually dried up. Lake Poopó has now been declared fully evaporated.

Mission teams prepare for critical days

Moments after Sentinel-3A separates from its rocket, a team of European mission control specialists will assume control, shepherding the new spacecraft through its critical first days in space.

Colours of Sweden

Colours of Sweden

Colours of Sweden

Earth from Space

Sentinel-3A fully tanked

With the launch of Sentinel-3A confirmed for 16 February, preparations for liftoff are charging full speed ahead. The tricky task of fuelling the satellite has now been ticked off the ‘to do list’ and the propulsion team is already decontaminating their equipment before returning home.

Sentinel-3A fully tanked

With the launch of Sentinel-3A confirmed for 16 February, preparations for liftoff are charging full speed ahead. The tricky task of fuelling the satellite has now been ticked off the ‘to do list’ and the propulsion team is already decontaminating their equipment before returning home.

Sentinel-3A fully tanked

With the launch of Sentinel-3A confirmed for 16 February, preparations for liftoff are charging full speed ahead. The tricky task of fuelling the satellite has now been ticked off the ‘to do list’ and the propulsion team is already decontaminating their equipment before returning home.

Call for Media

Call for media

World Wetlands Day

Call for media

SMOS gets help from Tibet

Ground measurements are essential for making sure that satellites deliver accurate information about our changing world. Although the Tibetan Plateau may not seem the obvious place to take such readings, this remote location is being used to check on ESA’s SMOS satellite.

Sierra Leone Estuary

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Colours of Persia

Colours of Bahrain

Meet Sentinel-3

Meet Sentinel-3

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Meet Sentinel-3

Rise and shine for Sentinel-3A

Following the Christmas break, the Sentinel-3A satellite has been taken out of its storage container and woken up as the campaign to prepare it for launch resumes at the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome. Liftoff is set for 4 February. UPDATE 21 January: launch likely to be pushed into second half of February.

Rise and shine for Sentinel-3A

Following the Christmas break, the Sentinel-3A satellite has been taken out of its storage container and woken up as the campaign to prepare it for launch resumes at the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome. Liftoff is set for 4 February.

Rise and shine for Sentinel-3A

Following the Christmas break, the Sentinel-3A satellite has been taken out of its storage container and woken up as the campaign to prepare it for launch resumes at the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome. Liftoff is set for 4 February. UPDATE 27 January: new launch date is 16 February.

Canada breaks the ice with Sentinel-1 data

How can access to Sentinel data increase Canada’s ability to offer improved information on sea ice?

Mongolian marvel

Earth from Space

Shifting ice

Deal sealed for new Sentinel-1 satellites

ESA has ensured the continuation of the Sentinel-1 Earth observation satellite series for Europe’s Copernicus environmental programme by ordering two more satellites.

The €400 million contract was signed today with Thales Alenia Space of Italy to build Sentinel-1C and -1D.

Ice matters

The satellite age has revolutionised our understanding of Earth, giving us accurate information to help critical agreements on climate change such as at the current COP21 conference in Paris. Diminishing polar ice is one of the most visible indicators of change, but how much have we learnt over the last decades?

Talking climate

French portrait

Talking climate

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Talking climate

Talking climate

The future of Earth

Talking climate

Talking climate

Watching wetlands

Dutch mosaic

Sentinel-3A taking final steps to launch

After an eventful journey to Russia, by plane, lorry and train, the Sentinel-3A satellite is safe and sound in the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, for lift-off next month. 

ESA and World Bank hand-in-hand

Today at the COP21 Climate Summit in Paris, the World Bank and ESA signed an agreement on using information from Earth observation satellites in support of sustainable development.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Sentinel-2 moves on

Doors open to Sentinel-2

Talking climate

Farmers benefit from satellite coverage

Farmers can now call on the latest satellite information using the unique TalkingFields service to get the best from their land while cutting the environmental cost. 

Talking climate

Space for climate

Sudanese fields

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Timelapse from space reveals glacier in motion

Animations that compress 25 years of satellite images into just one second reveal the complex behaviour and flow of glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range in Asia.

Space for Earth

ESA issues call for new Earth Explorer proposals

ESA is announcing an opportunity for scientists involved in Earth observation to submit proposals for the next potential Earth Explorer satellite mission.

Sentinel-3A on its way

The latest satellite for the European Commission’s Copernicus environmental programme has left France bound for the Plesetsk launch site in Russia and launch late next month.

Spanish mosaic

New satellite to measure plant health

ESA plans to track the health of the world’s vegetation by detecting and measuring the faint glow that plants give off as they convert sunlight and the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide into energy.

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

International effort reveals Greenland ice loss

One of Greenland’s glaciers is losing five billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean, according to researchers. While these new findings may be disturbing, they are reinforced by a concerted effort to map changes in ice sheets with different sensors from space agencies around the world.

Chinese painting

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Canada joins Sentinel collaborative ground segment

ESA and the Canadian Space Agency have signed an agreement that facilitates access to the Sentinel satellite data primarily for users from Canada. 

Earth from Space

Free online course

Sentinel-3A set for launch

Sentinel-3A set for launch

Sentinel-3A set for launch

Nile Delta Fertility

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Manicouagan Crater

Earth from Space

Earth from Space

Melting slows Greenland ice flow

It may seem counter intuitive, but satellite data suggest that part of the Greenland ice sheet moves more slowly if the surface of the ice melts faster.

Living Planet Symposium sets a new record

Registration for ESA’s fifth Living Planet Symposium has just closed, reaching a record of nearly 2700 abstract entries.

Safe at sea

Celebrating 15 years

Charter marks 15 years

Climate Cube

Mexico City

Earth from Space

Earth from Space