Herschel and Planck teams are recipients of a prestigious aerospace industry award.

Hedgehog is a new concept for a robot that is specifically designed to overcome the challenges of traversing small solar system bodies.

NASA satellite measurements have given scientists a better understanding of what happens to rain and snow that fall on land, with a few surprising findings.

Follow the entire 10-day mission of ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen to the International Space Station with behind-the-scenes info on the iriss blog

Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites being fixed to the dispenser that will secure them during their 11 September launch

Come and see how images of Earth from space show how science meets art at a new exhibition at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria

During equinox, one part of the rings didn’t cool as expected, which allowed scientists to model what they might be like on the inside.

A new analysis of the largest known deposit of carbonate minerals on Mars suggests that the original martian atmosphere may have already lost most of its carbon dioxide by the era of valley network formation.

Join us Friday, 4 September, at 10:00 CEST for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features a Sentinel-2A satellite image of the Australian Northern Territory.

NASA SMAP observatory managers have determined its radar can no longer return data, but the mission continues to produce high-quality science with its radiometer instrument.

One section of Saturn’s rings may be loaded with chunks of solid ice, possibly shards from a destroyed moon, according to a new study by Cassini scientists.

This new image of IC 4628 (Gum 56) shows newborn stars formed by the remains of the most massive suns of a previous generation.

This concept puts forth a new way to get into orbit and land on comets and asteroids using the kinetic energy of these small bodies.

Technology image of the week: ESA’s head of telerobotics introducing the rover Andreas Mogensen will soon be operating from orbit

Watch the full replay of Soyuz TMA-18M launch to the International Space Station with ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov were launched into space this morning2 Septemberat 04:38 GMT (06:38 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Replay: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov launched into space 2 September at 04:37 GMT (06:37 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

The amount of Martian atmosphere trapped by mineral formation appears inadequate to account for a warm environment when rivers cut valleys on ancient Mars.

A concept for orbiting and landing on multiple asteroids and comets is being developed at JPL.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Thumbs up for the crew being launched to the International Space Station on Wednesday

Scheduled for launch later this year, the mission will pave the way for future space-based projects to observe gravitational waves.

LISA Pathfinder, ESA’s demonstrator for spaceborne observations of gravitational waves, is ready to leave for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites have been attached to the dispenser that will hold them during their flight up into space, then release them into their planned orbits.

Researchers have developed innovative flat, optical lenses as part of a collaboration between JPL and the Caltech.

NASA has begun a multi-year field campaign to investigate ecological impacts of the rapidly changing climate in Alaska and northwestern Canada.

After a two-day flight in space, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov will arrive at the International Space Station on 4 September. Watch live from 07:20 GMT (09:20 CEST)

Space Science Image of the Week: LISA Pathfinder, planned for a Vega launch later this year, will pave the way for gravitational-wave observatories in space

America’s darkest stretch of land gets another International Dark-Sky Park after National Park Service officials complete a sustained effort to make their lights night-sky friendly.

NASA selects the next target for New Horizons, a Kuiper Belt object a billion miles past Pluto.

An airborne campaign over Greenland this summer helps scientists prepare for a satellite mission that will monitor global ice sheets.

Researchers camped on Greenland’s ice sheet this summer studied streams that form atop the ice and carry meltwater to the ocean, where it adds to sea level rise.

Our week through the lens: 24-28 August 2015

Europe’s latest Galileo satellites are fully fuelled, leaving them ready to be attached to their launcher upper stage in preparation for their 11 September launch.

New research by Harvard astrophysicists shows that if life can travel between the stars, it would spread in a characteristic pattern that we could potentially identify.

The finding suggests that the brilliant cores of active galaxies may commonly host two central supermassive black holes that fall into orbit about one another as a result of the merger between two galaxies.

The next two satellites in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system will be launched together on 11 September, taking its orbital constellation a step closer to initial services. Media are invited to take part in an audio briefing on 1…

On 9 September, the first of 12 men will go to bed for 60 days as part of important research into stopping the wasting effects that spaceflight has on the human body. Although they may be putting their feet up, it is set to be a far from r…

The state’s highest court started hearing oral arguments today over the fate of what could one day be the world’s largest telescope, which protesters say would desecrate their sacred land.

A tiny 3-D camera for potential use in brain surgery, has been honored with a technology award.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen will leave for the International Space Station from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 2 September with commander Sergei Volkov and Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov. Their flight in the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecr…

‘Float’ and explore in detail each module of the International Space Station in this 360° panoramic view

Early September will see the very first force-feedback-based teleoperation of a rover-based robotic arm system on Earth from the International Space Station, orbiting 400 km above our heads.

A research group discovered 48 dust-obscured galaxies, and since these galaxies are thought to harbor a rapidly growing black hole in their centers, these results give scientists clues for understanding the evolution of galaxies and supermassive black …

This reignited electron cloud radiating primarily at radio frequencies lies in Abell 1033.

When you fill a sink, the water rises at the same rate to the same height in every corner. That’s not the way it works with our rising seas.

Intensive research, aided by NASA observations and analysis, points to an unavoidable future sea level rise of several feet. The question is, how quickly will it happen?

NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland program will study how the oceans are eating away at Greenland’s ice sheet and help scientists predict sea level rise.

NASA is applying its unique capabilities to the challenge of understanding global sea level rise.

The shimmering colours of the Twin Jet Nebula show off in new Hubble Space Telescope image

The new image highlights the bipolar planetary nebula’s shells and its knots of expanding gas in striking detail.

Scientists have directly observed an essential part of the process for how magnetic waves in the Sun heat the solar plasma.

The closest-yet views of Ceres, delivered by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, show the small world’s features in unprecedented detail, including Ceres’ tall, conical mountain; crater formation features and narrow, braided fractures.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen testing his spacesuit before launch on 2 September

Last Friday, 21 August, ESA’s billion-star surveyor, Gaia, completed its first year of science observations in its main survey mode.

His findings helped reveal how strongly dark energy interacts with normal matter.

The spacecraft’s view is now three times as sharp as in its previous mapping orbit, revealing exciting new details of this intriguing dwarf planet.

On 20 August 2015 the Director General of ESO, Tim de Zeeuw, and the Director General of ESA, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, signed a cooperation agreement between the two organisations at ESO’s offices in Santiago, Chile. The ESA Director General was accompanied by Álvaro Giménez, Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at ESA, and Fabio Favata, Head of the ESA Programme Coordination Office.

Space Science Image of the Week: ESA’s Herschel space observatory has explored the turbulent depths of a large, dense, and dramatic cosmic cloud known as Mon R2

NASA’s head of planetary science says the agency could send a spacecraft to explore Uranus and/or Neptune, as well as their ocean moons.

A new XMM-Newton image shows the powerful remnants of dead stars and their mighty action on the surrounding gas near the Milky Way’s center.

Our week through the lens: 17-21 August 2015

Satellite images show that the fastest moving glacier in the world shed a chunk of ice measuring around 12.5 sq km this week – one of the most significant calving events on record.

The evidence is important because it heralds a new form of astronomy using neutrinos, the nearly massless high-energy particles generated in black holes, massive exploding stars, and the energetic cores of galaxies.

New images show a pockmarked icy landscape of Saturn’s moon.

An Ariane 5 lifted off tonight from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and delivered two telecom satellites into their planned orbits.

A pockmarked, icy landscape looms beneath NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in new images of Saturn’s moon Dione taken during the mission’s last close approach to the small, icy world.