News

Plans to overhaul European space regulation would come with unprecedented enforcement power over domestic and foreign satellite operators, including on-site inspections and steep fines to uphold safety, cybersecurity and sustainability standards.

This is the first time such an historical and rare piece is auctioned off. Sotheby’s says the eventual buyer of the items is guaranteed to own a piece of history. A 25-kilogram rock is being auctioned off at Sotheby’s New York on Wednesday. It’s being listed for a price of $2 million (€1.71 million) to $4 million (€3.42 million).

On July 7, 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) achieved a groundbreaking feat in space communications by establishing Europe’s first optical communication link with a spacecraft in deep space. This link was made possible through the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment onboard NASA’s Psyche mission, which is currently over 265 million kilometers away from Earth. The link was established using two optical ground stations located in Greece, a significant achievement that promises to revolutionize communication for future deep-space missions.

Europe stands on the cusp of a new era in space exploration, with several enterprising startups positioning themselves to lead the continent’s private orbital launch capabilities. The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently evaluating proposals from multiple companies, signaling a meaningful push towards autonomous European access to space for small satellite payloads.

Researchers' journeys begin with an idea, fueled by the motivation that drives them forward. But achieving a successful career requires more than that – resources, time, and skills. As a child, Prof. Dr. Sonia María García Blanco was always intrigued about making things small and how computers work. This sparked her scientific instinct to learn more about chips that use light. After an enriching journey in academia, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Sonia is now a consolidated academic in the field of photonics.

ESA secures access to Guiana Space Centre for launches to 2035 Despite the future ambitions of SaxaVord, in the Shetlands, and Andøya Space Center, in Norway, Europe’s official Spaceport is actually located in the northeast of South America. In French Guiana, an overseas department of France.

“Last June, all 23 European Space Agency member states unanimously approved collaboration with South Korea. The same applies to signing the Framework Agreement, which marks the first step in our cooperation.” That was the message from Alexander Soucek, head of the External Relations Department at the European Space Agency (ESA), in an interview with Chosun Biz at ESA headquarters in Paris on July 7. ESA and South Korea’s newly launched Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) are set to sign a framework agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two agencies.

Ukraine will become the first European nation to offer Starlink mobile services when leading operator Kyivstar launches messaging by year-end and mobile satellite broadband in mid-2026, Chief Executive Oleksandr Komarov said.

With NASA planning to decommission the International Space Station around 2030, a new generation of commercial and hybrid orbital platforms is in the making. At the Paris Air Show, key players VAST, The Exploration Company (Nyx), Alatyr, and Andromach showcased their solutions, from compact capsules to full-fledged orbital habitats.

KIRUNA, Sweden (Reuters) -Two small spaceports in the far north of Sweden and Norway are racing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe into space as the region looks to reduce its reliance on U.S. players. U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies and the war in Ukraine have prompted Europe to ramp up its independent capabilities in a variety of areas, including defence and space operations.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced five private companies to advance to the next stage of its European Launcher Challenge, an initiative designed to boost European commercial space launch capabilities and reduce dependence on traditional heavy-lift rockets.

Militär Aktuell already reported reported on the “LEO2VLEO” satellite project last December. – Now things are getting underway: The European Defense Agency (EDA) signed a contract with ISISPACE on 30 June. ISISPACE is leading an industrial consortium in which Austria is also prominently involved. Within two years, a constellation of three 16U satellites is to be designed, developed, built, launched and operated by 2027 as part of the LEO2VLEO project. “LEO2VLEO” thus represents a significant leap forward in European defense capabilities in space.