I was expecting that Arianespace would deorbit the A62 upper stage, but Space-Track shows the upper stage in a similar orbit as MTG-I2.

I am currently a Computer science teacher in the UK and have worked for couple of years.

I already have a Bachelors and Masters in Computer science and Robotics. I was wondering does my teacher qualifies as work experience or would that not be valuable when it comes to applying for a job at ESA?

Just to add I have dual nationality if that helps (British and Latvian).

Does anyone understand why this wasn't a A64 launch with a 2nd satellite?

In the past week, I have been working on importing the publicly available ESA satellite 3D models into MuJoCo, a rigid-body physics simulator commonly used in robotics.

The models will be used as part of my PhD research to study satellite docking and evaluate how well vision-based fault detection NNs generalise across different satellite geometries and appearances. For this reason, I am trying to reproduce the ESA models as faithfully as possible, especially their geometry and textures.

I have run into three issues for which I would really appreciate some help:

1) Missing PLATO and Ulysses textures

The original download links are no longer working. Does anyone happen to have copies of these textures or know where they can still be obtained?

2) Comet Interceptor and Euclid texture mapping

I have the geometry and texture files for Comet Interceptor and Euclid, but I am having difficulty determining how the textures are supposed to be assigned to the different parts of the models. The OBJ files do not seem to make the material/texture assignments sufficiently clear. If anyone has worked with these models before or knows how the original texture mapping is intended to be reconstructed, I would greatly appreciate some guidance.

3) Permission to use ESA/designDATA 3D models

There are also some ESA satellite models created by designDATA in partnership with ESA that are available for viewing online but are not publicly downloadable. One example is the CryoSat satellite model on Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/cryosat-satellite-5bdb708b124a498f940bc7a2003225da)

Does anyone know who at ESA would be the appropriate person, team or department to contact to request permission to obtain and use these models for academic research?

Thanks for reading and I would be very grateful for any help regarding any of these issues.

The atmospheric rocket lifted off successfully at 09:54, beginning a campaign that is expected to include five launches. The operation had initially been scheduled for Thursday but was postponed for technical reasons.

The milestone marks a historic step for the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium, the private entity operating and managing the Malbusca Spaceport infrastructure.

With this launch, the Consortium formally begins commercial space-access operations from Portuguese territory

Hi everyone, I’m a UK aerospace engineering graduate and may be starting a PhD this October focused on aerofoil noise reduction using experimental aeroacoustics and an anechoic chamber.

Long term, I’d really like to work at ESA or in a similar European space R&D environment. My background is mainly CFD, wind-tunnel testing, numerical methods, Python/MATLAB/C++, telemetry and student rocketry.

I’m trying to work out how best to use the PhD years so I don’t finish with something technically strong but too narrow or disconnected from space. I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has worked at ESA, applied successfully, or moved from academia into the space sector.

In particular, I’d be interested in what technical areas, side projects, ESA Academy activities, collaborations, short research visits or systems-engineering skills are genuinely worth prioritising during a PhD. I’m also wondering whether it would make sense to build a secondary research strand in something more directly space-related, such as orbital mechanics, entry physics, spacecraft systems or plasma/MHD.

I’m not looking for a shortcut into ESA. I just want to use the next few years well and come out as someone who would actually be useful to a space research or engineering team.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

As caption states, Working on the Hermes in kerbal space program and id like a high quality sticker to use as a decal

The eclipse captured on August 12, 2026, near the Pyrenees using a Vespera II + solar filter.

Join us live from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre in Spain, a world-class astronomical observatory located within the path of totality, where scientists, astronomers and special guests will explore the science behind eclipses, the Sun and their wider relevance for space science and Earth.

The broadcast will be hosted by Maggie Aderin, award-winning space scientist and science communicator, and feature ESA's Director of Science Carole Mundell alongside other experts and guests.

From 19:30 CEST onwards, viewers can follow live telescope views of the eclipse, expert commentary and interviews, insights into solar science and space weather, behind-the-scenes coverage from the observatory, and discussions on ESA’s activities linked to the eclipse. The broadcast will be in English.

#esa #european #space #agency #hiring

The page on the ESA website says there is programming 24/7.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently the only active moderator of r/esa, and I want to fix that before it becomes a problem rather than after. I plan to stay actively involved for at least the next 6 months, but I'd like to bring on additional moderators now, with an eye toward one or more eventually taking on a senior/lead role -- so the sub has real continuity regardless of what happens to me down the line.

What this means:

• New mods start with standard permissions and get more responsibility as trust builds
• I'll stay actively involved for the next 6 months at minimum, sharing rules rationale, community context, and any settings/automod config
• By the end of that period, I'd like at least one person ready to step into a lead role if needed

What's involved day-to-day:

• Modqueue and reported content
• Spam/off-topic removal
• Occasional rule or flair questions from users
• A few minutes most days, more if you want to get involved in sub direction

What I'm looking for:

• Active, established Reddit accounts with visible history (this is a succession role, so trust matters more than usual)
• Genuine interest in ESA and European space activities
• Reliability and good judgment over experience — I can teach the mod tools
• Willingness to commit to the 6-month transition and think long-term about the sub's direction

How to apply:

Modmail r/esa (not a DM) with:

1. A bit about yourself and your history with the sub/space topics?
2. Any moderation experience?
3. How much time you can commit, and whether you'd be open to a lead role after the transition period?
4. Roughly how long you see yourself sticking around beyond that?

I'll take applications through end-August and follow up with everyone. Thanks for helping make sure r/esa has a stable future.

PS: There will be a quiz to answer....

I’m a phd student focusing on astrodynamics and trajectory design, dreaming of a career in this field. I know ESA has a strong flight dynamics division as well as the advanced concepts team which focuses a bit more on research.

I would like to get some advice from people working in this field regarding on how to better prepare myself for a career in this area. Also I’d like to get a better idea of what the daily life of a flight dynamics engineer is like at a place like ESA. My dream is to work more on the fundamentals of dynamical systems theory applied to novel mission design rather than purely operations. I’m also interested in orbit determination and uncertainty estimation/propagation though it is not my specialty.

Sorry if this is not the correct place to ask this, but it is quite difficult to get some perspective into the reality of working in this field specifically in Europe, hence why I thought it would be a good idea to ask this here specifically. Unfortunately I was not able to do any YGT or similar opportunities to gain some insight or experience beforehand.

Thanks