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ESA Space Transport

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Latest news on @esa.int's launches, projects and developments in space transportation. Please see our Privacy Notice: esa.int/connectwithus

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European Space History @eurospacehistory.bsky.social · yesterday

#OTD 4 August 1984, launch of the first Ariane 3 flight V10 from Europe's Spaceport with @esa.int's ECS-2 (now Eutelsat-1 F2) telecomms satellite on board 🚀🛰️ @esaconnectivity.esa.int @transport.esa.int @cnes.fr @eutelsat.bsky.social www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA...

Launch of Ariane 3 V10, white rocket against blue sky and clouds, on yellow/white exhaust plume

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · yesterday

#LaunchedIt 🚀✌️

ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications@esaconnectivity.esa.int · yesterday

🎥Movie streaming takes less than a second today thanks to decades of innovation in satellite broadcasting 📺 #OTD in 1984, the European Communications Satellite 2 launched aboard Ariane 3 flight V10, expanding sat comms and international TV across Europe🛰️🌍 @esa.int @eurospacehistory.bsky.social

Ariane 3 flight V10 from Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the European Communications Satellite 2.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2d ago

Launch window set! 🎯 Ariane 6 flight VA270 is scheduled to liftoff on 27 August 2026 at 22:10-00:40 CEST, 17:10-19:40 local time, from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. This launch will carry MTG-I2 to space, the next Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite. @esaearth.esa.int @eumetsat.int

MTG-I2 inside a cleanroom at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2d ago

Storm incoming 🌪️ The Exploration Company is developing Storm, a full-flow staged combustion engine. This video shows elements of the pre-burner hot-fire test campaign at the @dlr-spaceagency.bsky.social P8 test bench in Lampholdshausen, Germany.

Storm pre-burner hot-firing

YouTube video by ESA Extras

youtube.com

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 5d ago

In the second quarter this year @esa.int's Future Launchers Preparatory Programme launched an invitation to tender on structures, materials, mechanisms and processes for space transportation, and a 'Boost!' call invites European companies to apply for co-funding: www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

2026 second quarter Future Launchers Preparatory Programme highlights

esa.int

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 6d ago

Reuseable rocket stage demonstrator Themis was loaded with several tonnes of liquid nitrogen chilled down to –200°C simulating the full sequence of events to take place before a liftoff… and after a landing. www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 7d ago

🚀 We have exciting times ahead: new launch date for Vega-C!

ESA Earth Observation@esaearth.esa.int · 7d ago

Not one, but two satellites will soon be on their way to orbit 🚀 On 15 September at 03:21 CEST/02:21 BST (14 September at 22:21 local time), @esa.int’s FLEX mission and Copernicus Sentinel-3C are set to launch together from Europe’s Spaceport aboard a Vega-C rocket. 📷ESA/ATG medialab

Visual of the FLEX and Sentinel-3 satellites flying in formation above Earth, with coloured observation swaths projected onto the surface below.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · last wk.

These are some of the images you will find in La Poste's Ariane 6 collector set. Can you name the two flights shown here? 🤭 More info: www.esa.int/About_Us/Bra...

Ariane 6 lifts off at night with MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5

Ariane 6 takes flight for the first time.

European Space Agency @esa.int · last wk.

Meet the next generation of space innovators at Industry Space Days 2026. 🚀 📍 ESA-ESTEC, Netherlands 📅 16–17 September Info and registration 👉 esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Meet_space_startups_at_ESA_s_Industry_Space_Days

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · last wk.

This stamp collection is out of this world 💫 La Poste launched an Ariane 6 eight-stamp collector set and it looks A-mazing! The set features several liftoff pictures of Ariane 6 with two boosters, from different launches. Do people still collect stamps these days? We know we will 🙂‍↕️

France’s postal service, La Poste, honours Ariane 6

To mark Europe’s newest generation heavy‑lift launcher, La Poste, France’s national postal service, has issued a collector set of eight stamps featuring Ariane 6, paying tribute to Euro...

esa.int

European Space History @eurospacehistory.bsky.social · last wk.

#ThisWeek in 2013, Alphasat (now called Inmarsat-4A F4) — then Europe's largest and most sophisticated telecoms satellite — was launched on Ariane 5 VA214 on 25 July from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre... @esaconnectivity.esa.int @esa.int @cnes.fr @transport.esa.int

Ariane 5 rocket lifts off into blue skies

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

#LaunchedIt 👀

ESA Navigation@navigation.esa.int · 2w ago

🛰️Two new Galileo satellites enter service Two new satellites, SAT 33 and SAT 34, have now officially joined Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation, strengthening its capabilities, resilience and autonomy. www.esa.int/Applications...

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

News from one of our upcoming passengers! 👀🧡

ESA Space Science@science.esa.int · 2w ago

Plato meets Maxwell Our terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space. 🔭 🧪 1/3

Photograph of a spacecraft towering at the centre of a large test chamber. The walls and ceiling of the chamber are covered with dense rows of blue foam spikes that create a striking geometric pattern extending in all directions around the spacecraft. The right side of the spacecraft is dominated by shiny black, stowed, solar panels. The spacecraft body is partly visible on the left wrapped in reflective gold-coloured insulating foil and partially covered by a translucent protective sheet secured with small pieces of red tape.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

Emojis are cool, but don't you think they could be next level? 🙂‍↕️ Can you name all of these iconic transportation vehicles?

The emoji we have: a general rocket. The emoji we deserve: Ariane 6 illustrated.

The emoji we have: a general satellite. The emoji we deserve: Space Rider illustrated.

The emoji we have: a general rocket. The emoji we deserve: Vega-C illustrated.

The emoji we have: a yacht. The emoji we deserve: Canopée illustrated.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

We might seem a bit biased but we think rockets are really cool. This is @esa.int's space transportation fleet from 2026, from left to right: Vega-C, a two-booster and a four-booster P160C-based Ariane 6, and Space Rider. Ariane and Vega rockets lift off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

Artist's view of Space Transportation's major programmes from 2026 onwards.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

🗓️ New launch date alert! Write it down on your agenda: on 27 August 2026, Ariane 6 will take MTG-I2 on a very special ride. We'll keep you posted 🤗

ESA Earth Observation@esaearth.esa.int · 2w ago

One for the calendar: 27 August 👀 That’s when MTG-I2 is scheduled to lift off aboard Ariane 6 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Stay tuned for updates. 📷ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE-ArianeGroup\Optique Video de CSG – S. Martin

European Space Agency @esa.int · 2w ago

#MediaInvitation: Journalists are invited to express their interest in attending the launch of our #FLEX mission and Copernicus Sentinel-3C on Vega-C flight #VV30 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, this September.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 2w ago

#LaunchedIt 🫰

ESA Space Science@science.esa.int · 3w ago

Getting there 🛰️ After an eight-year journey through the inner Solar System, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will arrive at Mercury later this year. The arrival happens in stages. Here's what to expect 👇 🔭 🧪 #MercuryArrival

An infographic showing the different stages of BepiColombo's arrival at Mercury. Each step shows the configuration of the different spacecraft as they separate from one another, depicted as simplified grey drawings on a dark blue background. A vertical line connects the image for each step to the corresponding date and description at the bottom. An image of Mercury lies on the right edge of the infographic.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 3w ago

When @science.esa.int's Plato mission launches next year on Ariane 6 it will have a ride-share : @technology.esa.int's Henon - a small satellite that will venture out to deep space on its own to monitor solar activity: www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 3w ago

The launch campaign for the next Vega-C flight has now officially started: the dual launch will take Sentinel-3C and FLEX to orbit. Liftoff from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana 🚀 www.esa.int/Applications...

FLEX and Sentinel-3C arrive at Europe’s Spaceport

With liftoff scheduled for September, excitement is building at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana as two cutting-edge Earth observation satellites, FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel-3C, have arrived to b...

esa.int

ESA Earth Observation@esaearth.esa.int · 3w ago

Our FLEX satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C spacecraft have finally arrived to Europe's spaceport! With both satellites now at the launch site, the focus turns to completing the intensive launch campaign that will culminate in their shared trip aboard Vega-C. @transport.esa.int are you ready?

A large roll-on/roll-off cargo ship is moored at a dock at dawn in French Guiana. Bright lights illuminate the vessel and its open cargo deck, while calm water reflects the ship and the purple-blue morning sky filled with clouds.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 3w ago

The road to liftoff might seem fast, but it takes weeks! These images show how Ariane 6 is built up at the launch zone. Here's what happens step by step ⤵️ 📸 @esa.int - S. Corvaja

European Space Agency @esa.int · 3w ago

European space budgets grew 12% to €13.5 billion in 2025. Read the full report 2026 Space Economy Report for the latest insights on investment, industry trends and global developments shaping the space sector. 🔗 esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/ESA_releases_2026_Space_Economy_Report

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 4w ago

Two years ago to this day #Ariane6 flew for the first time. The iconic countdown with every launch since, and some of our favourite views. Go Ariane! 🚀

European Space History @eurospacehistory.bsky.social · 4w ago

#OTD 9 July 2024, Ariane 6 was launched on its inaugural flight #VA262, completing its mission of releasing several varied satellites into a circular Earth orbit and restoring Europe’s independent access to space 🚀🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @cnes.fr @transport.esa.int

Europe’s newest heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 launches to the blue sky on bright white exhaust plumes on 9 July 2024.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 4w ago

With the unpacking of the latest Meteosat satellite at Europe's Spaceport the campaign for the next Ariane 6 launch has now officially started: www.esa.int/Applications...

Unpacking Europe’s new weather imagers

The second Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite (MTG-I2) has begun its launch campaign, during which it will go through final inspections before being fitted inside the fairing of the Ariane 6 r...

esa.int

European Space Agency @esa.int · last mo.

#MediaInvitation: Journalists are invited to attend the launch of the weather satellite MTG-I2 on Ariane 6 #VA270 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. 📅 Apply by 16 July, 17:00 CEST 🔗 www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre... @esaearth.esa.int

Ariane flying into space with two boosters – artist's impression

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · last mo.

The RFA One first stage at SaxaVord Spaceport, UK, with all of the rocket’s nine Helix engines installed. www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · last mo.

🚀A core stage, an upper stage and four of the most powerful boosters ever produced in Europe: liftoff! Timelapse showing how last month's most-powerful-so-far Ariane 6 was assembled at Europe's Spaceport.

ESA Earth Observation @esaearth.esa.int · last mo.

Hey, @transport.esa.int: package inbound! The @esa.int FLEX satellite is on its way to Kourou by boat, together with Copernicus Sentinel-3C. After traveling together, the two spacecraft will also fly to space later this summer aboard a Vega-C rocket: www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 📸Thales Alenia Space

Container carrying ESA’s FLEX and Copernicus Sentinel‑3C satellites being loaded onto a cargo ship in Nice, France, for transport to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · last mo.

One of the best competitions ever: get your drawing printed on the top of the Ariane 6 rocket that will launch Plato – and see it ascend to space 🚀 (Under 12s only) www.esa.int/kids/en/thin...