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As preparations for the launch of Sentinel-2A continue on track, the team at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana has said farewell to the satellite as it was sealed from view in the Vega rocket fairing. Liftoff is set for 23 June at 01:52 GMT (03:52 CEST; 22:52 local time on 22 June).

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, NASA’s Terry Virts and commander Anton Shkaplerov return to Earth on 11 June, streaming starts at 13:00 GMT / 15:00 CEST

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Samantha, Terry and Anton’s Soyuz spacecraft will bring them home on Thursday morning after 200 days in space

The new observations reveal star-forming clumps in the galaxy equivalent to giant versions of the Orion Nebula.

Like they do on Earth, these deposits might provide a window into the possibility of past life on the Red Planet.

In two weeks’ time, Sentinel-2A will be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Join ESA TV for an introduction to the ‘colour vision’ mission for Copernicus

NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project completed its second flight test when the saucer-shaped craft splashed down safely Monday in the ocean off the coast of Kauai.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has detected deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars.

A new animated video of dwarf planet Ceres, based on images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, provides a unique perspective of this heavily cratered, mysterious world.

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will return to Earth on 11 June, along with NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov, having spent 200 days in space on the International Space Station.

‘Food for curious minds’ is the theme of Ecsite 2015, taking place 9-13 June in Trento, Italy

Space Science image of the week: Herschel’s view of a gigantic stellar crib in the Taurus Molecular Cloud

Satellites help us monitor the state of our oceans, supporting ‘healthy oceans, healthy planet’ – the theme for this year’s World Oceans Day

Our week through the lens: 1-5 June 2015

Using WISE, researchers have discovered more than 400 dust-shrouded nurseries of stars that have helped them trace the shape of our galaxy’s spiral arms.

The three proposals each offer the chance to tackle some of the major outstanding scientific questions about our place in the universe.

Earth observation image of the week: a Sentinel-1A radar image of China’s Tianjin city, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme

Join us Friday, 5 June, at 10:00 CEST for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features a Sentinel-1A image of the Chinese city of Tianjin

A comprehensive analysis of all available Hubble Space Telescope data shows that Nix and Hydra are wobbling unpredictably.

Simulations suggest that comet impacts can account for many of the features in the swirls.

Exoplanets, plasma physics and the X-ray Universe are the topics chosen by ESA to be considered for the fourth medium-class mission in its Cosmic Vision science programme, for launch in 2025 and like all the previously proposed Cosmic Visi…

Exoplanets, plasma physics and the X-ray Universe are the topics chosen by ESA to be considered for the fourth medium-class mission in its Cosmic Vision science programme, for launch in 2025.

The second satellite in Europe’s Copernicus programme is set for launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 23 June at 01:52 GMT (03:52 CEST 23 June; 22:52 local time 22 June).

In the first-ever demonstration of space-to-ground remote control with live video and force feedback, NASA astronaut Terry Virts orbiting Earth on the International Space Station shook hands with ESA telerobotics specialist André Schiele in the Netherlands today.

Researchers fine-tune maps of our galaxy’s spiral arms using data from NASA’s WISE mission.

A balloon carrying a test vehicle for NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project is scheduled to lift off no earlier than 10:30 a.m. PDT (1:30 p.m. EDT/ 7:30 a.m. HST) Monday, June 8, from Kauai, Hawaii.

Revisit last week’s International Symposium on Climate Change in Rome, which reviewed the links between climate change and world development

Hyperion is the largest of Saturn’s irregular moons and may be the remnant of a violent collision that shattered a larger object into pieces.

This work provides a valuable key to understanding the early formation of the Sun and planets.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Vibrating mixtures in microgravity has revealed an unknown effect in liquids

NASA’s Alice instrument on Rosetta finds that electrons near its target comet cause rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide molecules released from the comet’s nucleus.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has returned images from its final close approach to Saturn’s oddball moon Hyperion, upholding the moon’s reputation as one of the most bizarre objects in the solar system.

Rosetta’s continued close study of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has revealed an unexpected process at work, causing the rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide molecules spewing from the comet’s surface.

ESA’s goal of removing a derelict satellite from orbit is picking up pace, as a mission design is assembled to be put before European ministers next year for approval.

Technology image of the week: this deceptively modest joystick is about to make space history

The Rosetta spacecraft has discovered that electrons are responsible for the rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide molecule’s erupting from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

NASA’s LDSD project will beam back live imagery from a supersonic, edge-of-atmosphere test of braking technology for Mars.

Space Science Image of the Week: Strong winds whip dust and sand from the martian surface into a frenzy, shaping and smoothing the planet’s surface features

The spacecraft is taking its final set of images primarily for navigation purposes and will enter its second mapping orbit around the dwarf planet June 3.

Our week through the lens: 25-29 May 2015

The results lend significant weight to the case for jets being the result of merging black holes, but additional conditions must also be met.

Tests using X-ray and gamma-ray observations rule out two different models of the quantum nature of space-time.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will make its final close approach to Saturn’s large, irregularly shaped moon Hyperion on Sunday, May 31.

A new view of Ceres, taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on May 23, shows finer detail is becoming visible on the dwarf planet.

The 32 best images taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst from the International Space Station as voted by his Facebook followers

These three new images of huge filamentary structures of gas and dust from ESA’s Herschel space observatory reveal how matter is distributed across our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

The new images reveal more detail about Pluto’s complex and high-contrast surface.

This discovery was made while piecing together a time-lapse movie of a plasma jet blasted from a supermassive black hole inside a galaxy located 260 million light-years from Earth.

Technology image of the week: cabling for the testing of ESA’s Mercury mission, photographed by artist Edgar Martins

The International Space Station’s Permanent Multipurpose Module was detached and moved by the main robotic arm to another place on the orbiting laboratory yesterday.

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

The launch of flight VA223 occurred on 27 May at 21:16 GMT (23:16 CEST, 18:16 local time).

JPL has two newly announced science investigations that will help unravel the mystery of whether Jupiter’s moon Europa might have the right conditions for life.

Building a better parachute – one goal of a team working on NASA’s LDSD, a project to develop breakthrough technologies for landing future robotic and human Mars missions.

RoboSimian, the ape-like robot developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, will compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, June 5 and 6.

Testing is underway on NASA’s next mission on the journey to Mars, a stationary lander scheduled to launch in March 2016.

A new image from the Very Large Telescope reveals that the star-forming region RCW 34 is home to multiple episodes of star birth.

Jupiter’s moon could be the best place in the solar system to look for present-day life beyond our home planet.

Follow the International Climate Symposium in Rome, Italy, via live webstream 27–29 May

Exhibits, displays and presenters from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, are participating in this year’s World Science Festival in New York, to be held from May 27 through 31.

The second flight test of NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) now will launch no earlier than 10:30 a.m. PDT (7:30 a.m. HST) Tuesday, June 2, from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii.

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NASA has selected nine science instruments for a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, to investigate whether the mysterious icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: The first images acquired by Mars Express based on imaging proposals from schools in 12 countries

Space Science Image of the Week: Fifteen years ago, XMM-Newton took a series of mesmerising self-portraits with our planet

The science team wants to examine an outcrop that contains the contact between a pale rock unit the mission analyzed lower on Mount Sharp and a darker bedded rock unit that the mission has not yet examined up close.

The science team wants to examine an outcrop that contains the contact between a pale rock unit the mission analyzed lower on Mount Sharp and a darker bedded rock unit that the mission has not yet examined up close.

Congratulations to the winners of the Sentinel-2 ‘Colour vision’ photo competition!

Researchers at JPL have joined an effort to harness the benefits of searching the “Deep Web,” which could prove useful for both law enforcement and science.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover climbed a hill Thursday to approach an alternative site for investigating a geological boundary, after a comparable site proved hard to reach.

Tests on Mars have confirmed success of a repair to the autonomous focusing capability of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover.

Our week through the lens: 18-22 May 2015

ESA at the Chelsea Flower Show

The 100-day countdown begins today for ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s visit to the International Space Station. Following launch on 1 September, he will test new technologies and deliver a fresh spacecraft for the long-stay crew already aboard the orbital complex.

First discovered several decades ago, Nasty 1 was identified as a Wolf-Rayet star, a rapidly evolving star that is much more massive than our Sun.