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

#ThisWeek in 2004, 19 April, Dutch @esa.int astronaut André Kuipers 🇳🇱 was launched on his 10-day #Delta mission to the International SpaceStation. 🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @nl.esa.int @dutchspace.bsky.social

What does the name Artemis have to do with optical links? - #Artemis II mission used optical links to send images back to 🌍 - @esa.int's Artemis satellite made the first optical link between satellites 25 years ago ESA's Hydron takes optical comms further, building the fibre network of the sky📶

Three years since Juice launched on its journey to Jupiter. 🧪🔭 Arriving in 2031, it will explore the giant planet and its icy ocean moons, seeking to study them as both planetary objects and possible habitats. More info 👇 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

Launched almost 25 years ago, in July 2001!

20 years ago, on 11 April 2006, Venus Express was making history by entering orbit around Venus. Europe’s first mission to Venus answered many questions, especially concerning the planet’s atmosphere. Still, many mysteries remained. 1/2 🔭 🧪

The #ESAarchives April #ObjectOfTheMonth: photos of a 1970s VIP visit to Kourou organised by ESA’s predecessor European Launcher Development Organisation. Check out some very early European space merchandise put to good use on a tropical day! historicalarchives.esa.int#oom #SpaceHistory

European space history made! The first Italian hazelnut chocolate spread to orbit the Moon... #Nutella #SpaceHistory

OK this is cool. The first time humans have seen the whole Mare Orientale on the far side of the Moon with their own eyes. See flic.kr/p/2s5HA2X 🧪🔭

@esa.int beamed down a hand-picked away team of avid Trekkies to the @sciencemuseum.org.uk to tell the story of how their love for #StarTrek launched their space careers on an out-of-this-world trajectory... @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @daraobriain.bsky.social

More than 50 years after Apollo, what would it mean to return to the moon? Great insights from Jan Woerner, former DG at @esa.int and @rossandersen.bsky.social from @theatlantic.com Kudos @madifinlay.bsky.social And @elliebury.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/science/audi...

#ESAarchives are prolonging celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Giotto's flyby of Comet Halley, taking a look at the guest book for the ‘Night of the Comet’ organised at ESA ESOC mission control on 13 March 1986.

#OTD 23 March 2012, launch of @esa.int third Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Edoardo Amaldi, to the International Space Station on Ariane 5 #VA205 from Europe's Spaceport 🧪🚀 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @transport.esa.int

#ThisWeek in 2013, @esa.int revealed the #Planck space telescope's map of oldest light in Universe, most detailed map ever created of the Cosmic Microwave Background! 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @science.esa.int @iap.fr @cnrs.fr @mpi-astro.bsky.social @mpiwg.bsky.social

#OTD 22 March 2019, launch of Vega flight VV14 from Europe's Spaceport to deliver Italian Earth observation satellite PRISMA into orbit. www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @ita.esa.int @transport.esa.int

Dusty pages, silent halls, Voices echo through the walls. To know the now, we must look back, Along the faded, winding track. History is a mirror to be held, To show us how the future’s spelled. We read the lines of yesterday, To light the dark along our way. #WorldPoetryDay #SpaceHistory

😍 This week 40 years ago, ESA's Giotto probe made the closest approach to date of a comet, Halley's Comet. Just found in our archives, a cool comic book interpretation of the March 1986 rendezvous (in French) 👇

Yes! One of my fav images taken by our Cassini cameras. I chose it for the cover of the 2017 Enceladus Special Issue of Astrobiology Journal. It was published the same month that Cassini plunged into Saturn. A fitting end to a magnificent expedition. www.liebertpub.com/toc/ast/17/9

#HappyBirthday 🎉 also to ESA astronaut @astromatthias.esa.int 🇩🇪 (18 March), who spent 177 days on the International Space Station in 2021-22 during his six-month #CosmicKiss mission. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @aseastronauts.bsky.social @dlr-de.bsky.social @de.esa.int

#HappyBirthday 🎂 to ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang 🇸🇪 (18 March), the first Swedish citizen in space and one of ESA's most experienced spacewalkers, making five EVAs during his #Celsius and #Alissé missions. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @aseastronauts.bsky.social

#OTD 17 March 1992, Klaus-Dietrich Flade became the fifth German to fly in space when he visited the Mir space station on Soyuz TM-14. His 'Mir 92' mission lasted 7 days. 👉 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus-D... @exploration.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social

Happy launch day to @esa.int's GOCE — the satellite that proved Earth isn’t actually round (at least, not to gravity)! Thanks to GOCE, we can visualise the geoid: an irregular, gravity‑shaped surface showing where Earth’s pull is stronger or weaker.

#OTD 20 years ago, 16 March 2006, Saturn as seen by NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini, with the moon Enceladus hugging Saturn’s ringplane right of centre, from a distance of approx. 2.1 million km from the gas giant (pic: NASA/JPL/SSI) @carolynporco.bsky.social @science.esa.int ciclops.org/view/1947/Sa...

Happy birthday Pedro! 🍻

40 years ago, the Giotto mission was writing history:  🛰️ ESA's first deep space mission ☄️ first cometary close flyby ⏰ and later on, first reactivation of a spacecraft The success of Giotto inspired our Rosetta mission and together laid the foundation for our Comet Interceptor mission. 🔭 🧪 1/3

🚀 10 years ago, our largest and most sophisticated martian explorer left Earth behind. To mark the launch anniversary, here are 5 remarkable things @esa.int's Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) was made for 🧵👇

Great article from Drew Ex Machina on the history of missions to Comet Halley 👇 🧪🔭

Great to see #AerospaceBristol celebrating the 40th anniversary of @science.esa.int #Giotto encounter with #HalleysComet - a mission that put @esa.int on the world stage and showcased the space engineering talent in UK and #Bristol. 👏👏👏 @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @cmundell.esa.int