Luca Parmitano returns to the International Space Station

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has arrived at the International Space Station on his ‘Beyond’ mission, marking the start of Expedition 60.

Luca and crewmates NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov travelled for six hours in their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft. They were launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 20 July 2019, 18:28 CEST and docked to the Station at 00:48 CEST on 21 July. After docking, the crew conducted thorough checks on the seals before being welcomed on board by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague, along with Russian cosmonaut and current Space Station commander Alexei Ovchinin at 03:04 CEST on 21 July.

Over the next six months, Luca will support more than 50 European experiments as well as 200 international experiments. These include investigations into how aspects of the human body are affected by microgravity and how astronauts could control robots remotely during lunar exploration.

When Alexei Ovchinin departs the Space Station at the end of Expedition 60, Luca will also take on the role of Space Station commander for Expedition 61. This is the third time a European astronaut and the first time an ESA astronaut from Italy has held this position. Luca will follow ESA astronauts Frank De Winne (2009) and Alexander Gerst (2018) when he takes command later this year.

Frank, who is now head of ESA’s astronaut centre in Cologne, Germany, says Luca’s appointment to the role of commander is a reflection of ESA’s standing among international space agencies: “People can rely on us, and they do rely on us,” he said. “Not only in terms of the hardware that we provide - to the Space Station and the​ service module for the Orionspacecraft, but also in the area of crew operations.​ ​ I think that is a very good result of the investment that ESA Member States make.”​

Bringing the Moon into focus

Launching 50 years after the first Apollo Moon landing, it is fitting that Luca will work on experiments designed to aid the future of space exploration.

These experiments include BioRock, which aims to help scientists understand whether microbes used to ‘biomine’ on Earth could also work on other planetary bodies, and to examine how communities of microorganisms grow on rocks in space.

Luca will also test and operate ESA’s Life Support Rack, designed to recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen as part of ESA’s goal to enable astronauts to live independently from Earth on a sustainable basis. He will also operate an Earth-based rover from the International Space Station testing remote operations that could be applied on the Moon.

Results from these experiments will support ESA’s contribution to the lunar Gateway and the Heracles mission to the Moon in ongoing work with international partners.

“What has happened today is part of our journey forward to the Moon,” said ESA Director General Jan Wörner. “With our international partners, we are excited to be part of a new generation of space explorers, giving research opportunities and access to space to all of our Member States.”

Stepping into space

Luca has also been preparing for spacewalks, working with teams on the ground to develop new procedures and tools to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02).

Installed outside the Space Station in 2011, AMS-02 is a particle physics detector collecting cosmic rays to help scientists understand dark matter and antimatter. It was initially only meant to operate in space for three years, but it was so successful in its mission that its life has been extended. To enable this to happen, three of its four cooling pumps require repair in a challenging spacewalk.

Going Beyond​

Luca’s activities during the Beyond mission are part of ESA’s long-term vision to send the first Europeans beyond Earth orbit and establish Europe as a key partner in humankind’s exploration of the Solar System.

Working with international partners, ESA seeks to bring new knowledge, innovation and inspiration to all European citizens and increase accessibility for researchers through new Space Station facilities such as the International Commercial Experiments service (ICE Cubes) installed in the Columbus module in 2018.

“What we are learning in low Earth orbit will enable the next generation to go farther and keep exploring. For us to be able to go back to the Moon and towards Mars, we have to know how to survive and operate in those worlds. That is where the Space Station comes into play,” Luca says.

Latest updates from Luca

The first European press conference with Luca live from the Space Station is planned for 29 July at the Leonardo di Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, Italy. This is open to European media and will be broadcast live.

Further updates from the Beyond mission will be published online at: http://lucaparmitano.esa.int/

Here you can also access the ESA Explores podcast, which will feature updates and interviews with astronaut experts throughout the mission.

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Slovenia is an Associate Member.

ESA has established formal cooperation with six Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities. Today, it develops and launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space. ESA also has a strong applications programme developing services in Earth observation, navigation and telecommunications.

EIB and ESA to cooperate on increasing investments in the European Space Sector

Paris, 10 July 2018

Today Ambroise Fayolle, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), welcomed Jan Wörner, Director General of ESA, to sign a Joint Statement on behalf of the two organisations.

The Joint Statement puts forth the intention of the two organisations to cooperate on supporting increased investment in the European space sector, thus helping create a level playing field for European companies to grow and become globally competitive. It also supports setting the foundations for Europe’s engagement in Space 4.0 and new space.

“I am very pleased to enhance a fruitful collaboration with ESA, raising awareness for investors, while improving access to finance for promoters in the space sector,” said the EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle.

“The EIB supports sustainable investment projects that contribute to growth and employment in Europe, with a focus on innovation and skills, including in the space sector, access to finance for smaller businesses, infrastructure, and climate change.”

Jan Wörner pointed out that, “This joint statement with the EIB is a first and important step. ESA has been the space agency for Europe and the Member States since 1975 and has been instrumental in the development of a globally successful European space sector. As one of the few agencies in the world to be active in nearly all space domains, ESA continues to ensure that space delivers smart growth, highly qualified jobs, and solutions for many current challenges in areas such as climate change, energy, transport, safety and security, agriculture and so on.”

Both representatives highlighted the shared interests of EIB and ESA in further enhancing the competitiveness of European industry, maintaining an independent access to space and critical space capabilities.

At the same time, they recognised that, more than ever before, the sector is no longer only the preserve of institutional players thanks to decades of institutional investments in space. Indeed, they stressed, there is an increasing interest in and growing importance of commercialisation at every level of the space value-added chain: from space manufacturing, to transportation, to satellite operations and the development of consumer services based on satellite signals and data.

By bringing together their complementary expertise and experience, EIB and ESA formalise their shared goal of and intention to promote a seamless chain of investments in space for Europe by developing various axes of cooperation. These include raising awareness among investors of the potential of space as a driver for innovation and growth and supporting actors in the space sector that have promising short- or medium-term growth perspectives. Their common objective is also to improve the access to finance for promoters of space projects, including via the study of suitable joint instruments.

From 2000, the EIB supported significant projects in the space and aerospace sector for total amount of €5.4 billion. As examples, the EIB supported Alphasat (€225 million), Soyuz in French Guiana (€120 million) and many RDI programmes and systems in Europe.

Second Space Station mission for Alexander Gerst begins

Paris, 8 June 2018

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst arrived at the International Space Station this morning together with NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev, marking the start of Alexander’s Horizons mission.

The trio were launched into space on 6 June at 11:12 GMT (13:12 CEST) in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After 34 orbits of Earth over two days, the three astronauts aligned their spacecraft with the 400-tonne International Space Station and approached the orbital outpost for docking. The two days were spent in the cramped orbital module of the Soyuz that is no larger than a car. With limited communications and living space the astronauts had time to adapt to weightlessness and reflect on their mission ahead.

The Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft arrived at the 400-tonne International Space Station on 8 June at 13:01 GMT (15:01 CEST) and docked to the Rassvet module. After standard but thorough checks to ensure an airtight connection between the two spaceships the hatches were opened at 15:17 GMT (17:17 CEST) to let Alexander, Serena and Sergei into their home and workplace for the next six months.

During the second part of his mission, Alexander will take over as commander of the International Space Station, only the second European to do so, after Belgian ESA astronaut Frank de Winne in 2009. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano will be the third European commander next year during his mission in 2019 – a show of trust in European know-how and training for space by the Space Station’s international partners.

Horizons

The mission is called Horizons as a symbol for the unknown and what lies beyond. The mission further cements ESA’s know-how for living and working off-planet. Alexander will be testing ways of operating and working with robots to develop techniques required for further human and robotic exploration of our Solar System such as commanding rovers while orbiting another planet.

Plans to build an international gateway between the Moon and Earth are being discussed this month with Europe supplying key parts such as a habitation module and the service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft to ferry astronauts, supplies and parts.

An advanced life-support system built in Friedrichshafen, Germany, is set for launch and installation while Alexander is on board. It will allow for humans to live farther away from Earth as it requires less frequent supplies through better recycling of air and water. Next year the Space Station’s communications will get a significant upgrade through a European laser communications system installed outside Columbus that connects to the European Data Relay System.

Research in microgravity

Alexander’s Horizons science programme is packed with European research: he will take part in over 50 experiments to deliver benefits to people on Earth as well as prepare for future space exploration. Many of these experiments will take place in Europe’s Columbus laboratory that is celebrating its 10th anniversary in space this year.Easier and continued access to humanity’s micro-gravity laboratory for researchers has been secured with the installation of the first European commercial micro-gravity research service ICE Cubes earlier this week. For a fixed fee any research team can run an experiment inside the European space laboratory Columbus.

Preparing the future

All these activities fit within the European exploration strategy that brings new knowledge, innovation and inspiration to European citizens built around international cooperation to bring societies around the world together. ESA is preparing exciting programmes with our international partners to build a low-Earth orbit economy, return humans to the Moon and bring samples back from Mars.

ESA´s BepiColombo takes to the Air

The first elements of the BepiColombo hardware were loaded into an Antonov An-124 cargo plane

Airbus-built Mercury-Mission is on its way to Kourou Launch Base

Amsterdam, 23/04/2018 - After years of development the BepiColombo spacecraft which will be heading to Mercury from autumn 2018 has at last taken to the air. On 23 April 2018 the first elements of the BepiColombo hardware were loaded into an Antonov An-124 cargo plane for transport from Amsterdam´s Schiphol Airport to the European Spaceport Kourou in French Guiana. After a fuelling stop in the Azores Islands the Antonov will arrive early on 24 April. This Antonov flight was the first of four flights needed to transport the spacecraft and all handling and test equipment to Kourou. The flights are supported by three transports by ship for further items.

Having completed a comprehensive test programme at European Space Agency´s Technology Centre ESTEC in Noordwijk (The Netherlands) the BepiColombo spacecraft is almost ready for launch. Between May and October 2018 the final launch preparations will be performed so that the spacecraft can then be launched aboard an Ariane 5 ECA.

BepiColombo is Europe's first mission to Mercury. It will set off in autumn 2018 (launch window is open from 5 October to 29 November) on a journey to the smallest and least explored terrestrial planet in our Solar System. When it arrives at Mercury in late 2025, it will endure temperatures in excess of 350 °C and gather data during its one year nominal mission, with a possible 1-year extension.

BepiColombo is an interdisciplinary mission performed in a partnership between ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The BepiColombo mission involves the delivery of the MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter) and the MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) to complementary orbits around the planet Mercury. JAXA provides the MMO, whilst Airbus is prime contractor for ESA, providing the MPO and all other spacecraft hardware. The scientific payload is provided by national agencies.