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Updated08/05/2025 19:45 
 




ESA - Top Multimedia News

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA Top Multimedia
ESA Top Multimedia

ESA Top Multimedia

May 8th, 2025 04:52:00 EDT -0400 Gripping exploration
Gripping exploration
May 8th, 2025 04:00:00 EDT -0400 Plato’s 24 newly installed cameras
Plato’s 24 newly installed cameras
May 8th, 2025 01:00:00 EDT -0400 Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves
Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves
May 7th, 2025 04:20:00 EDT -0400 MTG-S1 and Sentinel-4 arrive in Florida
MTG-S1 and Sentinel-4 arrive in Florida
May 7th, 2025 04:21:00 EDT -0400 Biomass antenna deployment selfie
Biomass antenna deployment selfie
May 2nd, 2025 03:49:00 EDT -0400 Snapshot of a peculiar spiral
Snapshot of a peculiar spiral
May 2nd, 2025 04:00:00 EDT -0400 Earth from Space: World’s biggest iceberg
The Ocean and Land Colour Instrument on Copernicus Sentinel-3 captured this image of Earth’s biggest iceberg, A23a, on 5 April 2025.
April 29th, 2025 09:14:00 EDT -0400 Galileo G2 navigation antenna test
G2 navigation antenna
April 29th, 2025 05:35:00 EDT -0400 Vega-C lofts ESA’s Biomass into orbit
Vega-C lofts ESA’s Biomass into orbit
April 29th, 2025 02:47:00 EDT -0400 Vega-C mobile gantry open
Vega-C mobile gantry open
April 29th, 2025 04:00:00 EDT -0400 A visual feast of galaxies, from infrared to X-ray
Webb: A visual feast of galaxies, from infrared to X-ray
April 28th, 2025 11:00:00 EDT -0400 Mission control GO for Biomass launch
Mission control GO for Biomass launch
April 28th, 2025 09:30:00 EDT -0400 ACES in space

The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), ESA’s state-of-the-art timekeeping facility, is now installed on the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. This still image, captured by external cameras on the Station, shows ACES after installation. For 25 years, cameras on the Station have documented activities in orbit, providing real-time views of operations like this one – a rare and remarkable perspective from space. 

On 25 April, the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic arm carefully extracted ACES from the SpaceX Dragon trunk and secured it onto the Columbus External Payload Facility, next to ESA’s space storm hunter ASIM (Atmospheric-Space Interactions Monitor). Mounted on the Earth-facing side, ACES will connect with ground clocks worldwide as the Station orbits Earth sixteen times a day. 

Developed by ESA with European industry led by Airbus, ACES carries the most precise clocks ever sent to space: PHARAO, developed by the French space agency CNES, and the Space Hydrogen Maser from Safran Timing Technologies in Switzerland. Together with a sophisticated microwave and laser link, they will compare time between space and Earth with unprecedented accuracy, testing fundamental physics and advancing future time standards. 

In March 2025, ACES arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where ESA, Airbus and NASA teams prepared the payload for flight. ACES launched on 21 April aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the 32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Today, ACES was successfully switched on for the first time, establishing communications with ground control and stabilising its thermal systems in preparation for clock operations. 

A six-month commissioning phase now begins, after which ACES will embark on its two-year science mission, opening new frontiers in fundamental physics and timekeeping.

April 22nd, 2025 08:36:00 EDT -0400 Biomass in the launch tower
Biomass in the launch tower
April 25th, 2025 08:38:00 EDT -0400 P160C solid-propellant rocket motor QM3 test
P160C solid-propellant rocket motor QM3 test