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Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of a rocky planet atmosphere outside our Solar System.

Image: Where space weather starts

Video: 00:03:47 They say it takes a village to raise a child. To launch a rocket, we have the combined expertise and passion of Space Team Europe. Aline Decadi is one of many making the first Ariane 6 launch possible and has been interviewed as part of a series highlighting some of the people that make up this dream team.Working for ESA, Aline Decadi is Launch System Dependability and Safety Lead engineer on Ariane 6 meaning her role is to predict what could go wrong at any moment to protect the people working at Europe’s Spaceport. Passionate about space with an international career in spacecraft and rockets, Aline is also a happy motorcyclist.Stay tuned for more from #SpaceTeamEurope: an ESA space community engagement initiative to gather European space actors under the same umbrella sharing values of leadership, autonomy, and responsibility.Find more videos from Space Team Europe.

Europe’s newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6’s first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher. Read on for all about 3Cat-4, then see who else is flying first.

Teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, are currently engaged in intensive preparations for the critical ‘Launch and Early Orbit’ phase of the agency's EarthCARE satellite.

Video: 00:04:54 As we approach the launch of ESA’s EarthCARE mission, we caught up with some of the scientists, engineers and experts behind the mission.With the climate crisis increasingly tightening its grip, ESA’s Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer mission (EarthCARE) will shed new light on the complex interactions between clouds, aerosols and radiation in Earth’s atmosphere.EarthCARE is the largest and most complex Earth Explorer mission. It comes at a critical time in the development of kilometre-scale resolution, global climate models and will provide an important contribution to an improved understanding of cloud convection and its role in Earth’s radiation budget.EarthCARE is an ESA mission, but it has been developed as a cooperation between ESA and JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency.This video features interviews with: Pavlos Kollias from Stony Brook University – McGill University, Thorsten Fehr, EarthCARE Mission Scientist at ESA, Robin Hogan, Senior Scientist at ECMWF, Dirk Bernaerts, EarthCARE Project Manager at ESA, Kotska Wallace, Mission and Optical Payload Manager at ESA, Tomomi Nio, EarthCARE Mission Manager at JAXA, Eiichi Tomita, EarthCARE/CPR Project Manager at JAXA, Ulla Wandinger, Senior Scientist at Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research and Bjoern Frommknecht, EarthCARE Mission Manager at ESA.Follow the EarthCARE launch campaign blog for more updates.Access the related broadcast quality footage: animations / interviews / satellite stock footage

Ariane 6 media kit

EarthCARE: cloud and aerosol mission

In March, we announced that 2023 would see the publication of over 300 vacancies at ESA. New vacancies keep being published as we continue our search for talented and motivated professionals to join our teams across Europe and support our mission of the peaceful exploration of space for the benefit of everyone. Could ESA be the next step in your career? Read more to find out!