The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees.

ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.

European Space Agency

Minute

Pre-launch media briefing for the Sentinel-6B mission which will be launched mid November aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Media are invited to join online press briefings on 13 November to hear about the latest sea-level monitoring satellite, Copernicus Sentinel-6B, which is due to launch no earlier than 17 November UTC. Officials from ESA, the European Commission, Eumetsat, NASA and marine applications users are set t...

English

Media invitation: online media briefings ahead of Copernicus Sentinel-6B launch

Official Page

SpaceX

The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States.

EUMETSAT's primary objective is to establish, maintain and exploit European systems of operational meteorological satellites. EUMETSAT is responsible for the launch and operation of the satellites and for delivering satellite data to end-users as well as contributing to the operational monitoring of climate and the detection of global climate changes.

European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (launched  November 2020) and Sentinel-6B make up the Sentinel-6 mission, also known as Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS), which is a partnership between NASA, NOAA, ESA, and EUMETSAT. This mission continues the long-term global sea surface height data record begun by first Jason satellites in 1992.

Sentinel-6B

Low Earth Orbit

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Sentinel-6B

Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) is a launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S.

The pad was previously used by Atlas and Titan rockets between 1963 and 2005. The pad was built for use by Atlas-Agena rockets, but was later rebuilt to handle Titan rockets.

Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E

European Union Agency for the Space Programme

Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme coordinated and managed for the European Commission by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), the EU Member States. It aims at achieving a global, continuous, autonomous, high quality, wide range Earth observation capacity. Providing accurate, timely and easily accessible information to, among other things, improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, and ensure civil security.

Copernicus

Earth Observation

Falcon 9

Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.

Go for Launch

Sentinel-6B Pre-Launch Media Briefing

Press Event

Copernicus Sentinel-6B, a sea-level monitoring satellite, is due to be launched no earlier than 17 November. Officials from ESA, the European Commission, EUMETSAT, NASA and marine applications users are set to share the latest information about this exciting mission and to be on-hand to answer quest...

Two – ESA Web TV

24/7 Live Feed

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the national space agency of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for the national space program and for planning and development of space activities. CNSA and China Aerospace Corporation (CASC) assumed the authority over space development efforts previously held by the Ministry of Aerospace Industry. The CNSA has many launch sites around China with their orbital sites located in Jiuquan, Xichang, Taiyuan and Wenchang.

China National Space Administration

Month

The Shenzhou 20 Descent Capsule will land in the desert near Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, bringing Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie back to Earth after spending six months in orbit as part of the ninth mission to the Chinese Space Station.

Shenzhou 20 Patch

Shenzhou 20

Tiangong space station

Active

Shenzhou 20 EVA 3

Shenzhou 20 EVA 2

Shenzhou 20 EVA 1

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Ninth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.

Long March 2F/G | Shenzhou 20

Second

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a Chinese spaceport located between the Ejin, Alxa, Inner Mongolia and Hangtian Town, Jinta County, Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It is part of the Dongfeng Aerospace City (Base 10).

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921)

The Shenzhou program is a crewed spaceflight initiative by China. The program put the first Chinese citizen, Yang Liwei, into orbit on 15 October 2003.

Shenzhou

Human Spaceflight

The Tiangong space station is a space station placed in Low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 km above the surface.

Long March 2

The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).

Launch Successful

Shenzhou 20 Landing

The Tiangong space station is a space station placed in Low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 km above the surface. It will be roughly one-fifth the mass of the International Space Station and about the size of the Mir space station.

Spacecraft Landing

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's national aero-space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The JAXA HTV-X1 will be unberthed from the ISS before initiating a destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere taking waste along with it.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

First flight of the upgraded Japanese HTV-X spacecraft designed to resupply the International Space Station.

HTV-X1

H3-24 | HTV-X1

The Tanegashima Space Center is the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan. It is located on the southeastern tip of Tanegashima, an island located south of Kyushu, an island and region and Japan. It was established in 1969 when the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was formed, and is now run by JAXA. The activities that take place at TNSC include assembly, testing, launching, and tracking satellites, as well as rocket engine firing tests.

Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2

Canadian Space Agency

Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)

The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the sixteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, during the Space Station Freedom project as it was originally called.

International Space Station

H3-24

HTV-X1 Release & Reentry

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000. It has been inhabited continuously since that date. The last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and an experimental inflatable space habitat was added in 2016. The station is expected to operate until 2030. Development and assembly of the station continues, with several new elements scheduled for launch in 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS consists of pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, solar arrays, radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles.

Imagem do Dia

Descubra o Cosmos!

Eventos

Sentinel-6B Pre-Launch Media Briefing

Shenzhou 20 Landing

HTV-X1 Release & Reentry

Estações Espaciais

International Space Station

Tiangong space station