#OTD in 1983, ECS‑1 launched aboard Ariane 1, Europe’s first step towards its own space-based communications 📶 From analogue signals to secure networks, the mission set the tone for Europe's present in space. Today, IRIS² builds on that legacy by reinforcing Europe’s autonomy in orbit 👁️ 🔐

Find out how a bronze cast of the Infanta Margaret Theresa from Las Meninas is helping to save irreplaceable ELDO information…

On 14 June, Joos Ockels will give another inspiring talk at Space Expo in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Joos shares special memories of ESA astronaut Wubbo Ockels's space adventure. More details 👇 www.space-expo.nl/en/discover/... @nl.esa.int @exploration.esa.int @aseastronauts.bsky.social

#ThisWeek in 2018, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was launched to the ISS on his long-duration #Horizons mission. This was Alexander's second flight, he took over as commander of the station during Expedition 57. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @de.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social

#ThisWeek in 1988, Alexander Alexandrov became the second Bulgarian citizen in space, flying on Soyuz TM-5 to the #Mir space station on 7 June. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksan...

#OTD 9 June 2008, #Slovenia signed a Cooperation Agreement with ESA and in 2010 became the sixth European Cooperating State. Slovenia became ESA's 23rd Member State on 1 January 2025. #SpaceHistory #SciHistory

#OTD: 8 June 1625, Giovanni Domenico Cassini (or Jean Dominique) was born. French-Italian mathematician and astronomer, discovered four moons of Saturn and observed what is known today as the 'Cassini Division', a narrow gap separating Saturn's rings into two parts. www.esa.int/About_Us/Wel...

Giovanni Domenico Cassini, the real founder of telescopic astronomy, was born 8 June 1625 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/t...

🎶 Every June, #ESAarchives investigate musical connections and celebrate the #FêteDeLaMusique. Here they anticipate the opening of photos from 1983 with an '80s animation and 'euro' soundtrack on an ESA video made for the 1987 @siae.fr Paris Air Show. ENJOY! 😍 👇 historicalarchives.esa.int#oom

On this day in 2003, Mars Express began its journey to the Red Planet. 🔴 Since then, it has given us stunning views of Mars, traced the history of water across the planet, and provided the most complete map ever of the chemical composition of its atmosphere. 🧪🔭

#ThisWeek in 2003: ESA's Mars Express was launched on 2 June, the first European space mission to head for the Red Planet. After 23 years in service, Mars Express is still going strong today! 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @esa.int @science.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social @dlr-spaceagency.bsky.social

🚀 Only 10 days left to apply for the ESA Grant! Two grants support original research using ESA historical archives at the Historical Archives of the European Union. 🛰️📚 ℹ️ https://loom.ly/5gArtgA #ResearchGrant #SpaceHistory #ESAArchives @esa.int

🚀 New oral history interview online! The HAEU has published a 1992 interview with Sir Hermann Bondi, physicist and former ESRO Director General, on the history of Europe in space 🌌 🔗 https://loom.ly/jHqkgl0 #ESAArchives #HistoryofScience #SpaceHistory #ESA

National Air and Space Museum curators, NASA officials, an astronaut, an archeologist and others met on Thursday (May 21) for a series of panel discussions on the why, what and how of preserving the International Space Station at the end of its life on orbit...

#OTD: 20 May 1990, 'first light' for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope when it sent back its first image of several stars captured with its Wide Field/Planetary Camera 🧪🔭 esahubble.org/images/opo90... @science.esa.int @stsci.edu

#OTD: 20 May 2009, some shenanigans in Paris? ‪ESA’s 'Class of 2009' astronauts was announced, making their first appearance at an ESA press conference in Paris. From left: Luca Parmitano, Alexander Gerst, Andreas Mogensen, Samantha Cristoforetti, Tim Peake and Thomas Pesquet.

#OTD 18 May 1991, British astronaut Helen Sharman was launched into space on the Soyuz TM-12 spacecraft, becoming the first Briton and first Western European woman in space 🚀🧪 @exploration.esa.int @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @spacecentre.bsky.social @sciencemuseum.org.uk

#ThisWeek in 1968: the first ESRO satellite in orbit, ESRO-2B, was launched on a US Scout rocket on 17 May. It was the first spacecraft to be controlled by the European Space Operations Centre in Germany 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/About_Us/50_... @science.esa.int @operations.esa.int

#OTD 15 May 1997, launch of STS-84 Atlantis to the Mir space station with ESA's Jean-François Clervoy 🇫🇷 on board 🧪🚀 www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre... #SpaceHistory @exploration.esa.int @fr.esa.int @cnes.fr @museeairespace.bsky.social @citedelespace.bsky.social

#ThisWeek 45 years ago! Dumitru Prunariu became the first Romanian in space on 14 May 1981 when he was launched on Soyuz 40 to the Salyut 6 space station on a joint flight with the Russian cosmonaut Leonid Popov. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumitru... @exploration.esa.int

#ThisWeek in 2009: ESA's Herschel and Planck satellites were launched on 14 May on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. www.esa.int/Our_Activiti... @science.esa.int @cnes.fr @transport.esa.int

From 1964 to 1972, one of the first European space programmes launched over 180 rockets from ranges across the continent (and as far afield as South Australia!) in a programme that built the foundations of ESA scientific activities 🧪🔭 #SpaceHistory

🎉 #HappyBirthday to @esa.int and @cnes.fr astronaut Claudie Haigneré (13 May), first French woman in space, first female ESA astronaut and first European woman on the ISS! (pic: ESA/JJ Atteleyn) @exploration.esa.int @aseastronauts.bsky.social @citedelespace.bsky.social @museeairespace.bsky.social

Celebrating the 5th anniversary of EUSPA As we mark this milestone, we’re also taking a closer look at the meaning behind our logo.

#OTD 11 May 1978, #OTS-2 (Orbital Test Satellite-2), @esa.int's first communications satellite was launched on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral. Its planned lifetime was three years, but it operated until January 1991. www.esa.int/spaceinimage... @technology.esa.int @esaconnectivity.esa.int

😱 We still have some ESA Bulletins going back to the 1980s! Surprise the space geek(s) in your life with an issue from their birth month/year. Just drop the month/year you’re interested in in the comments and, if we have it, we’ll mail it to you free of charge 😎👍

In May's #ObjectOfTheMonth, #ESAarchives looks into the opening chapter of inter-space agency collaboration and exchange, with what we believe could be the first agreement between a European space organisation and NASA.

Over our 40-year history, Meteosat – Europe’s geostationary weather satellite series – have been the go-to source for imagery of the entire Earth disc over Europe & Africa. One of our first responsibilities was to take ownership of Meteosat-1 and -2 from @esa.int on 1 January 1987. 🧵1/3 #EUMETSAT40

#OTD one year ago, 29 April 2025, launch of ESA's Biomass satellite on Vega-C flight #VV26 🧪🌍 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @transport.esa.int @esaearth.esa.int @cnes.fr @esa.int

🌍🌳 One year of @esa.int's Biomass mission — told in images: From dense rainforests to remote wilderness, see what our forest‑watching satellite reveals from orbit. Dive into the gallery marking one year since launch👇 www.esa.int/Applications...

Remembering Dutch astronomer Kees de Jager on his birthday, born #OTD 29 April 1921. Former Director of Utrecht Observatory and founder of Netherlands Institute for Space Research @sronspace.bsky.social @nl.esa.int 👉 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kees_de...

#OTD 29 April 1985, launch of Space Shuttle #Challenger STS-51B and second flight of #ESA's #Spacelab module LM1, the first flight of the module in a fully operational configuration. The crew included first Dutch-born astronaut Lodewijk van den Berg 🧪 🔗 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-B

#OTD: 26 April 1993, launch of #Columbia STS-55 on the German #Spacelab D2 mission with a crew of seven including German astronauts Ulrich Walter and Hans Schlegel. @de.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social @dlr-spaceagency.bsky.social

#HappyBirthday to ASE member Samantha Cristoforetti, who has flown to space twice between 2014 and 2022 (Soyuz TMA-15M and SpaceX Crew-4) as part of expeditions aboard the International Space Station (Expedition 42/43 and Expedition 67/68)!

#ASEspotlight: Frank De Winne 💫 In November 2009, ASE member De Winne smiled as he floated through the International Space Station with a video camera during Expedition 21. Fun fact: He enjoys fishing! Happy 65th birthday, Frank! 🎉

Times flies 🚀 Some 25 years ago, @esa.int astronaut Umberto Guidoni 🇮🇹 became the first European to reach the International Space Station. Umberto rocketed into orbit on space shuttle Endeavour. @eurospacehistory.bsky.social @ita.esa.int

#OTD 25 April 2002, Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori was launched to the International Space Station on his eight-day Marco Polo mission. @exploration.esa.int @ita.esa.int @aseastronauts.bsky.social www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

“This is the world’s greatest flying machine, I’ll tell you that,” proclaimed NASA astronaut John Young, Commander of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle flight, when its wheels stopped after landing on 14 April 1981, 45 years ago this month.

😎 Launched on this day in 1990, still going strong! 🧪🔭

#OTD 24 April 1990, launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on Space Shuttle Discovery STS-31 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center 🧪🔭 Still going strong 36 years later! 👏 @exploration.esa.int @science.esa.int @stsci.edu @esa.int www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

Happy 36th anniversary, Hubble! 🎊 This is Hubble's gift for you: the Trifid Nebula 🎁, sometimes referred to as the Cosmic Sea Lemon. 🔭 🧪

#OTD 2️⃣5️⃣ years ago: 23 April 2001, Italian ESA astronaut Umberto Guidoni became the first European to enter the International Space Station during the STS-100 Space Shuttle mission. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @ita.esa.int @cmdr-hadfield.bsky.social

#OTD 5️⃣ years ago: 23 April 2021, ESA's @thom-astro.bsky.social was launched on his second flight to the ISS, the first European to fly on a SpaceX Dragon. During his #Alpha mission, he would also become the first French commander of an ISS expedition. www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

#OTD: 22 April 2024, @esa.int celebrated the graduation of its class of 2022 astronaut candidates, who completed basic training and became eligible for flight assignments. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @cnes.fr @dlr-de.bsky.social @ukspaceagency.bsky.social

From Europa and Ariane 1, to Ariane 6 and Vega-C, we have a long history of Europe's launchers 🧡 The first Europa flight took place on 5 June 1964. Nowadays, ESA provides Europe with autonomous access to space through the Ariane and Vega launcher families, which will continue to evolve.

#OTD 21 April 1995, launch of ESA’s second remote sensing satellite ERS-2 🛰️ on Ariane 4 flight V72 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @esaearth.esa.int @cnes.fr

#OTD 20 April 1977, ESA’s GEOS-1 was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2914 rocket. Intended as the first European geostationary scientific satellite to study the magnetosphere, a second-stage separation malfunction left it in a low transfer orbit 🧪🌍 directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal...

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrates 36 years in space this week! 🧪🔭 @esa.int @science.esa.int @eui-euarchives.bsky.social @stsci.edu

🎂 Hubble gets ready for its 36th anniversary this 24 April with a dazzling image of the Trifid Nebula 🤩 The telescope looked at a scene it first observed in 1997, capturing changes over incredibly short cosmic timescales 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪

#ThisWeek in 2001, 25 years ago, 19 April, the Shuttle Endeavour STS-100 was launched with Italian @esa.int astronaut Umberto Guidoni 🇮🇹 on board. Guidoni became the first European to enter the International Space Station on 23 April. 🔗 www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor... @ita.esa.int @exploration.esa.int