ESA Operations

From Earth orbit to deep space: sharing the excitement of realtime mission operations at the European Space Agency 🛰🕹️
Home of Space Safety 🛡️💙

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🔥 Our Draco reentry mission will record its own fiery demise. How? Well, the answer involves a heat shield made of cork, a meticulously shaped capsule, zapping plasma through wind tunnels and parachute drop tests.
Learn all about the mission's design challenges 👉 https://t.co/PYqNkUmj3T

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

The @esa /@JAXA_en #BepiColombo mission is entering its #Mercury arrival phase!

🖼️ Learn more from the updated @esascience mission media kit: https://t.co/MWRnx9UM3g

📺 And join the @BepiColombo online media briefing on 31 August 2026: https://t.co/7ILUJMBiUr

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🌈 On Saturday, @esa's #ESOC colleagues marched with #Pride at the #csddarmstadt alongside @eumetsat and vielbunt e.V.. 🌈

Why? Because inclusive teams power innovation and strengthen our people, our missions and the future of the space sector. 🪐

#ESA #CSD #FuerUnsAlle

📸ESA & contributors

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

RT @ESA_Hera: The mysteriously smooth, youthful face of Mars moon Deimos could be due to a violent asteroid impact - a thick layer of dust…

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Hera planetary defence mission and its two CubeSats are being prepared by their controllers to fly themselves in deep space, to avoid crashing into their asteroid targets - and each other!
https://t.co/A5Aac2MEeb

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🪨Asteroid 2025 AL2, as monitored by ESA's Planetary Defence team, makes a close approach to Earth this Sunday that might be visible from the southern hemisphere🔭https://t.co/9FWOKNrVf6

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

Imagine coming into work every day when your job is guiding ESA's Hera asteroid mission across two years worth of nothingness to its rocky destination...

Here's what Hera's flight control team has been busy doing: https://t.co/A5Aac2MEeb

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

Enjoy this evening's solar eclipse... But DYK, our Sun isn't the only star to get eclipsed?

'Stellar occultation' involves measuring the momentary shadows asteroids cast as they pass distant stars - useful for fine-turning the orbit of Hera's target bodies https://t.co/hhnHJjgtV6

[Josef Aschbacher @AschbacherJosef]

We are offering European researchers and companies an unparalleled platform to test the technologies that will shape the future of exploration: advanced onboard intelligence, AI-enabled autonomy, innovative image processing and next-generation spacecraft operations, all validated directly in deep space on @ESA_Hera.

Submit your ideas by 15 September💡👇https://t.co/rJHZT8gmtT

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Incredible Adventure of the Hera Mission - episode 7 - bringing us nearly up to date, this episode details Hera's post-launch cosmic roadtrip, and the reason for its flyby of Mars!🛰️🔴(Next episode coming soon!) https://t.co/0qf0npbx4u

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🚀 Looking for your next business opportunity in the space sector?

Save the date on 16-17 September 2026 for the #IndustrySpaceDays at @ESA’s ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands! 📆

Click here to register 👉 https://t.co/umTJhS7kVe

📷 ESA

#ESA #IndustrySpaceDays #ISD

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🌑 The more we occult the Sun, the less occult its behaviour becomes

Read more here! 👉 https://t.co/9ZzIQxlY6m

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 6 - once the NASA DART spacecraft impacted & diverted the Dimorphos asteroid, what does Hera still need to find out? 🤔🪨To be continued... https://t.co/JSI3OvOdga

[ESA Science @esascience]

What do you want to know about the eclipse? 🌘

Use #askESA to send us your questions.

We'll select some of them to be answered live during our 12 August broadcast, displaying your name or username.

#EuropeanSolarEclipse 🔭

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 5, recounting how, to get into space, ESA's Hera asteroid mission and her two CubeSats required a *lot* of ground testing first!🛰️🔍To be continued... https://t.co/DmH0D5W6vB

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

RT @ESA_Hera: 🚨🚨🚨ESA is opening our Hera asteroid mission to the global software community!

Your code 💾. Our spacecraft 🛰️. Deep space🌌.…

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 4 - tales of terrific technology, detailing the instruments Hera & its CubeSats will be using to survey its target asteroid! 🪨🔬To be continued... https://t.co/3LTwZdxygS

[ESA Operations @esaoperations]

🚨 OPEN CALL: Run your code in deep space!
For the first time, we are opening access to a living mission. We’ll be turning our Hera asteroid mission into a flying software lab 150M km from Earth. Open to AI, robotics, gaming, etc!
💻 Submit your idea https://t.co/Sn54Xne6Oz

[ESA Technology @ESA_Tech]

🎬Our double-satellite Proba-3 eclipse-making mission profiled on Astrum 👉 https://t.co/w0aiS8hv12

[ESA's Hera mission @ESA_Hera]

The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 3 - this one covered the then imminent impact by NASA's DART mission with the Dimorphos asteroid to deflect its orbit (spoiler: it worked!) 🎆🪨To be continued... https://t.co/9HlzumqyRG