ESA Space Safety

Weekend of geomagnetic activity expected. Geomagnetic conditions in Europe reached major storm levels yesterday morning because of the combined impacts from a high-speed solar wind stream and arrival of two CMEs that were detected on November 05 (see snapshot of the Enlil simulation by UK MetOffice below). As a result of this spectacular Aurora was seen in the Nordic countries last night.  Further moderate to major geomagnetic activity is expected over the next 24 – 48 hours because the influence of the high-speed solar wind stream continues, and further CMEs were observed late on November 05 and at 07:36 UTC this morning. Currently the solar wind speed at L1 is about 800 km/s. The sunspot group to keep an eye on is the SIDC Sunspot Group 687 (NOAA Active Region 4274), which has been flaring since Tuesday. For Aurora hunters the coming weekend may be very interesting at high latitude regions, if the sky is clear. If geomagnetic storm reaches major levels, Aurora could also be visible in some parts of the UK. We don’t expected the geomagnetic storm during the weekend to reach levels that would endanger the infrastructure. We will continue monitoring the situation and provide further information, if the space weather conditions become even more interesting. For the latest information, please check ESA Space Weather Service Portal: https://lnkd.in/dWBRviFG

☀️ ESA at European #SpaceWeather Week 2025: Collaboration, innovation and vision! ESA was proud to take part in #ESWW2025 in Umeå, Sweden, where the theme “Technological expansion of the Arctic: the new frontiers of Space Weather” set the stage for a week of discussions and community engagement. 🔹 Space Weather Working Team plenary session A standout moment of the week was the ESA-led plenary session, which explored the future of space weather in Europe and the roadmap for the next three years. The session was praised for the opportunity it gave participants to engage directly with ESA and help shape future priorities. 🔹 ESA’s Space Weather Service Network is evolving ESA hosted well-attended sessions reflecting on the achievements of the Space Weather European Network (SWESNET) project and the evolution of the ESA Space Weather Service Network. These discussions focused on how the network supports the transition from research to operations, and how it will continue to grow in response to emerging needs such as Arctic operations and cis-lunar safety. 🔹 #ESAVigil mission and user engagement ESA’s Vigil mission, scheduled for launch in 2031, was also in the spotlight. Designed to observe the Sun from Lagrange Point 5 (L5), Vigil will provide early warnings of solar storms, helping protect critical infrastructure on Earth. The mission is being shaped by user engagement, with new models and tools developed in collaboration with the scientific and operational communities. 🔹 Community input for the Aurora mission ESA gathered valuable input from the community on the upcoming Aurora mission and the long-term roadmap for space weather modelling. These insights will help guide developments over the next 10 to 15 years. 🔹 Celebrating young talent ESA was proud to host the winning team of the Space Weather Resilience hackathon, where students presented their innovative project that impressed both experts and attendees. 🔹 Immersive VR Experience Visitors to the ESA booth explored space weather like never before through a virtual reality experience, bringing ESA’s Vigil mission to life in a dynamic and interactive way. And to top it all off… the northern lights made an appearance, showing the power of space weather in action. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Explore the programme 👉 https://lnkd.in/eNJPGntE

Today, the integrated RAMSES teams of European Space Agency - ESA , OHB Italia S.p.A. , OHB SE and GMV have kicked-off the Critical Design Review of the RAMSES mission to asteroid Apophis. The intense technical scrutiny from ESA senior experts will last until January. Lots of work ahead, but being at this stage merely 8 months after PDR conclusion (and fully in line with the ambitous initial planning), is a strong signal in view of the upcoming ministerial decision gate: the pace and committment of the whole RAMSES team is the right one. 🏎️ If the decision-makers will support this ESA Space Safety cornerstone, we are on-track to tackle the Apophis challenge! 🚀🛰️☄️ #RamsesMission #SpaceSafety #PlanetaryDefense #Apophis #ESA #CM25

Congratulations on the completion of the project, DiGOS Potsdam GmbH! It's critical to develop operational services in and for Europe in the space situational awareness domain. It has been a pleasure to support something as exciting as shooting laser beams into space to track space debris. This project is just one example of how we aim to accelerate complex new technologies to market through the Competitiveness segment of our Space Safety programme.    Learn more about how your organisation's project could be supported through the permanently open call for ideas 👉 https://lnkd.in/eyjj-tuC

🪐☄️ ESA’s Juice is aiming its instruments at interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS!  Between 2 and 25 November 2025, #ESAJuice will be observing 3I/ATLAS, while the comet is near perihelion – its closest point to the Sun – when comets are most active. 3I/ATLAS is currently behind the Sun from Earth’s point of view, but Juice is just at right spot to observe it. Using cameras, spectrometers, and other sensors, Juice will study the comet’s coma and observe how it interacts with solar radiation.  Unfortunately, Juice is currently using its main antenna as a heat shield while it is close to the Sun. It can only send data back to Earth slowly via a smaller antenna, and so we won’t see the results of these observations until February 2026. The commands for the comet observations were prepared at ESA’s #ESOC mission control in Darmstadt, Germany. ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) is designed to study Jupiter and its moons. Planning the observations of an entirely different object at short notice was a challenge requiring some complex geometry, and precise timing! Read more about how and why ESA is attempting to study the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dWrbhE9x 

☄️ Fireball observed over Spain and Portugal!   On 2 November 2025 at 20:41 CET, ESA’s fireball camera in Cáceres, Spain, recorded a bright bolide streaking northwest over Portugal. The object appeared 97 km above Lousã, Castelo Branco, before disintegrating at an altitude of 43 km above Amiosinho, Coimbra, both in Portugal. It was travelling at approximately 81 000 km/h.   Calculations from the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network suggest the object originated from a comet. Upon entering Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, its surface heated to several thousand degrees Celsius, becoming incandescent. Before extinguishing, the fireball travelled roughly 80 km through the atmosphere.   The bolide was preceded almost an hour before, at 19:42 CET, by a meteor that lit up the skies for around 8 to 10 seconds. Despite the close timing, the two events followed distinct trajectories, indicating they were likely unrelated. 📸: ESA/PDO/AMS82 - AllSky7 Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/etaJ8w6s

☀️ #ESAVigil, an essential mission to the space weather community Last week at the European Space Weather Week (#ESWW 2025), Matthew West shared how ESA’s Vigil mission is opening new doors for collaboration, innovation, and operational readiness in the space weather community. Vigil will be the first dedicated ESA space weather mission to observe the Sun from Lagrange Point 5 (L5), offering a unique side-view of solar activity. Scheduled for launch in 2031, Vigil will provide early warnings of solar events before they rotate into Earth’s view, helping to protect satellites, power grids, and other critical infrastructure. A key takeaway from this session: Vigil’s development is deeply rooted in user engagement. From data products to analysis tools and service interfaces, the mission is being shaped by the needs of both the scientific and operational communities. In particular, the mission provides:  🔶 Opportunities for L5-focused research  🔶 Synergies with other missions (including Korea’s future solar probe mission to L4)  🔶 New models and analysis techniques aligned with Vigil’s objectives. Learn more about Vigil 👉 https://lnkd.in/e6PFjRBE

📣 Apply now for internship opportunities in space safety!   Check out our positions across ESA sites. Apply by 30 November!   𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 - 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 Darmstadt, Germany - Noordwijk, Netherlands https://lnkd.in/ebHTczsz   𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 - 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 Darmstadt, Germany - Noordwijk, Netherlands - Paris, France https://lnkd.in/eFJ9F7vf   𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 - 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 Frascati, Italy https://lnkd.in/emrpUSqv   𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 - 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 Darmstadt, Germany https://lnkd.in/ePZF57YQ   𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 - 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 Paris, France https://lnkd.in/eMEkDNJJ

💡Check out the full ESA Space Safety fleet and discover the exciting, fast-growing future of the programme. Hazards originating in space carry the risk of sudden disaster and potentially derailing everyday life, from natural threats like asteroids and solar storms to the human-made one of space debris. ESA’s Space Safety Programme is dedicated to making sure we can detect, predict and mitigate these space hazards in time, and builds towards a sustainable future in space. It aims to build a fleet of missions and other projects to keep us and our future in space safe. At ESA’s upcoming 2025 Ministerial Conference, the Space Safety Programme is proposing new activities to help ensure independent, continuous access to critical data and satellite services for Europe, imperative in this time of geopolitical instability. Learn more about the proposed Space Safety activities 👉 https://lnkd.in/gRZmNAMF “While ESA’s Space Safety activities help to keep us safe, its activities also help secure Europe’s position at the forefront of exciting new markets and space technologies,” says Holger Krag, Head of Space Safety at ESA. “We must ensure safety in Earth orbit to have a future in space. This requires new technologies to achieve our ambitious goals as part of ESA’s strategy 2040, and we are here to push this process forward any way we can for Europe.”

#SpaceWeather: ESA’s Henon CubeSat takes shape The European Space Agency - ESA’s upcoming Henon mission will orbit the Sun and observe our star's emissions to demonstrate technologies capable of providing advanced warnings of solar storms hours before they reach Earth. The CubeSat will fly to a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Sun – an orbit similar to but more elliptical than that of Earth, which will take it 12 million km from Earth at its closest point, and 24 million km away at the farthest. As both Earth and Henon will be orbiting the Sun, their relative orbits will make for an interesting situation – Henon will appear as if it’s orbiting Earth in the shape of an ellipse instead. Juha-Pekka Luntama, Head of ESA’s Space Weather Office, says: “Demonstrating this warning capability with Henon will open up a new pathway to develop a future constellation of small spacecraft that would operate in the DRO and keep a close watch on the progress of solar storms." "This constellation would provide a continuous warning service for operators of critical infrastructure, like electrical power grids, on ground, giving us ten times more time to implement mitigation measures to prevent damage.” Learn more about the mission 👉 https://lnkd.in/ecEW6Ryr