European Space Agency

The ispace EUROPE-led consortium was awarded an initial pre-Phase A contract for the Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration (MAGPIE) in December 2024. MAGPIE is being developed under ESA’s Small Missions for Exploration programme, which was introduced to support low-cost, rapid-development space missions that advance Europe’s exploration objectives.

The primary objectives of the MAGPIE mission are to explore and characterise volatile deposits in the lunar polar regions and to search for water ice that could support a sustained human presence on the Moon. While few details about the rover itself have been released, a paper presented at the 23rd IAA Symposium described MAGPIE as “a midsized rover.”

On 3 June, ESA awarded ispace an extension of its pre-Phase A contract, bringing the total contract value to €2.695 million. According to an ispace press release issued the same day, the extension will support collaboration on the implementation phase of the MAGPIE mission to the Moon. This includes the development of the mission concept, maturation of payload technologies, interface design, and prototype manufacturing in preparation for a future lunar exploration mission. However, no projected timeline has been provided for when the mission might launch.

ArianeGroup has successfully completed a series of hot-fire tests of a 3D-printed, flight-configured 240N hydrogen peroxide thruster.

In a 22 May update on LinkedIn, ArianeGroup senior orbital propulsion engineer Ulrich Gotzig announced the successful completion of the test campaign, which took place on the M11 test bench at the DLR facilities in Lampoldshausen. While Gotzig offered very little detail about the thruster and its purpose, his post did include that its development had been funded, in part, through the European Commission’s SALTO project.

The reuSable strAtegic space Launcher Technologies & Operations (SALTO) project is a European Union-funded initiative launched in December 2022. Led by ArianeGroup, SALTO aims to advance key technologies for reusable launch vehicles, with a particular emphasis on validating vertical landing capabilities. The project is closely tied to the European Space Agency’s Themis programme, which serves as a primary testbed for demonstrating these technologies. Themis is expected to perform its first hop test later this year.

French spaceplane startup AndroMach announced on 15 May that it had received a CNES contract to begin testing an early prototype of its Banger v1 rocket engine.

Founded in 2023, AndroMach is developing a pair of spaceplanes that will be used to perform suborbital and orbital missions to space. The suborbital ENVOL spaceplane will utilize turbojet engines for takeoff and landing, and a pressure-fed LOX/biopropane rocket engine to reach space. Test flights of this smaller vehicle will begin in early 2027. The larger ÉTOILE “orbital shuttle” is designed to be launched by a variety of small launch vehicles and will be capable of carrying payloads of up to 100 kilograms. According to the company, initial test flights of ÉTOILE are expected to begin at the beginning of the next decade.

Work on the project’s first phase began in the second half of 2024 and focused on identifying the technology maturation needs for a reusable upper stage demonstrator. This phase also included an assessment of potential commercial applications for the technology.

On 15 May, ESA published a call for proposals for Phase 2 of the project, which will focus on activities “up to a critical design milestone.” This stage in a project’s development typically signifies that the detailed design is complete and the system is ready to proceed to manufacturing or full-scale implementation. While the call did not provide much additional detail, it does note that Phase 2 will involve early long-lead technology maturation and demonstration activities.

Kann die Erde vor einem Asteroideneinschlag geschützt werden? 🛡️🌎 Mit der Hera-Mission der @esa testet Europa, ob sich ein Asteroid gezielt ablenken lässt. Dafür hat das DLR das Gravimeter GRASS mitentwickelt, das auf dem Asteroidenmond Dimorphos landen und dort die Schwerkraft messen wird. Was bringt das? Ein besseres Verständnis über den inneren Aufbau von Dimorphos – Wissen, das hilft, die Erde vor künftigen Einschlägen zu schützen.
👉 Mehr im neuen DLR-Blogartikel: http://s.dlr.de/HERA

On 7 May, ESA announced the signing of the agreement, stating that the cooperation would focus on activities in low Earth orbit, with provisions for potential future missions to the Moon. The announcement specifically outlined plans to work together on the “interoperability of rendezvous and docking systems to allow their respective spacecraft to work together.” Other near-term areas of collaboration outlined in the agreement include astronaut training, analogue space missions on Earth, and parabolic flight training.

In addition to near-term collaborations, ESA also revealed that the agreement could pave the way for missions to India’s planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station by European astronauts.

ESA’s agreement with ISRO comes less than a week after the Trump Administration released a proposed budget that would slash funding for NASA.

In response to the White House’s proposed NASA budget cuts, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher wrote that the agency will continue to forge strong ties with space agencies from around the world. And in a subtle rebuke of the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts, Aschbacher added that ESA was committed to being a “reliable partner.”

Ich war beim Launch @esa live dabei (sehr imposant!) und freue mich riesig, dass auch der zweite, besonders heikle Teil der #Biomass Observation Mission erfolgreich geklappt hat.

Danke fürs Teilen @pikarl 🥰
https://reporter.social/@pikarl/114466567279120254

#BioDiversität #BioMasse #EarthObservation #EarthObservationMissions #ESA #ErdSysteme #PlanetareLebensgrundlagen

🌾 🛰️ With help of satellite observations, #AI and process-based models, the research project #EOAgriTwin creates digital twins of agricultural landscapes for climate resilient farming – powered by @esa, ZALF & partners! 🌍

https://www.zalf.de/en/aktuelles/Pages/FPD/EOAgriTwin-Projektstart.aspx

#AgriTech #ClimateChange