Esa Bulletin c2017

number 171 | 3rd quarter 2017
bulletin
→ united space in europe
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency was formed out of, and took over the rights and The ESA headquarters are in Paris.
obligations of, the two earlier European space organisations – the European
Space Research Organisation (ESRO) and the European Launcher Development The major establishments of ESA are:
Organisation (ELDO). The Member States are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Slovenia is an Associate Member. Canada ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.
takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement. Bulgaria, Cyprus,
Malta, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have cooperation agreements with ESA. ESRIN, Frascati, Italy.
ESAC, Madrid, Spain.

In the words of its Convention: the purpose of the Agency shall be to provide for
and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European EAC, Cologne, Germany.
States in space research and technology and their space applications, with a view
to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications ECSAT, Harwell, United Kingdom.
systems:
ESEC, Redu, Belgium.
→ by elaborating and implementing a long-term European space policy, by
recommending space objectives to the Member States, and by concerting the
policies of the Member States with respect to other national and international
organisations and institutions;
→ by elaborating and implementing activities and programmes in the space field; Chair of the Council:
→ by coordinating the European space programme and national programmes, and by Jean-Yves Le Gall
integrating the latter progressively and as completely as possible into the European
space programme, in particular as regards the development of applications Director General:
satellites; Jan Woerner
→ by elaborating and implementing the industrial policy appropriate to its programme
and by recommending a coherent industrial policy to the Member States.
The Agency is directed by a Council composed of representatives of the Member

States. The Director General is the chief executive of the Agency and its legal
representative.
On cover:
The Meteosat-1 Flight Model during a solar
simulation test at the Toulouse Space Centre in
May 1977 (ESA/P. Sjodin)
→ contents
12
number 171 | 3rd quarter 2017
02 20
The ESA Bulletin is an ESA
Communications production.
Published by:
ESA Communication Department
ESTEC, PO Box 299

2200 AG Noordwijk
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 3408
Email: contactesa@esa.int
Editor
30 38
Carl Walker
Assistant Editor THE SPACE CHOREOGRAPHERS

Ruth McAvinia Europe’s Space Operations Centre celebrates half a century
Designer ESOC Communication Office
Emiliana Colucci with Directorate of Operations Coordination Office
Organisation → 02
www.esa.int/credits
THE EVOLUTION OF ESEC

The ESA Bulletin is published by the
European Space Agency. Individual The European Space Security and Education Centre at Redu
articles may be reprinted provided Daniele Galardini, Cindy Leonard and Sabrina Guillaume
the credit line reads ‘Reprinted from
ESA Bulletin’, plus date of issue. → 12
Reprinted signed articles must bear
the authors’ names.
FORTY YEARS OF METEOSAT
Europe’s geostationary weather satellites reach milestone
ESA and the ESA logo are trademarks
of the European Space Agency. Ruth McAvinia → 20
Images copyright ESA unless stated
otherwise. Permission to reproduce
or distribute material identified as THE CHINESE WAY
copyright of a third party must be ESA astronaut training in China
obtained from the copyright owner
concerned. Laylan Saadaldin → 30
Copyright © 2017 PROGRAMMES IN PROGRESS → 38

European Space Agency
ISSN 0376-4265 | e-ISSN 1608-4713
PUBLICATIONS → 68
operations
2 www.esa.int
→ esoc 50 years
→ THE SPACE CHOREOGRAPHERS
Europe’s Space Operations Centre celebrates
half a century
ESOC Communication Office with the Coordination Office
Directorate of Operations, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
ESOC’s Main Control Room
European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 3

operations
↑ The ESOC Main Control Room during a VIP visit in 1972
September marks 50 years since the official Other vital activities at ESOC include managing ESA’s
inauguration of ESA’s European Space Operations worldwide Estrack ground station network, cooperating with
Centre (ESOC), in Darmstadt, Germany. other agencies and international bodies to define technical
standards, and operating as a centre of excellence for space
As Europe’s centre of excellence for satellite operations, debris studies and services, ground system engineering, the
ESOC is home to the engineering teams that control design and development of tracking stations, and satellite
spacecraft in orbit and build the systems on the ground that navigation.
support missions in space. Imagining the ground systems
needed for innovative missions requires the teams to work
together from the start to put in place the hardware and The early days
systems on Earth that enable engineers to control satellites
in space and receive and distribute precious data to Fifty years ago, of course, ESOC was not technically ESA’s,
scientists. They also plan and select the best possible orbits, nor was it totally new. While the US-Soviet space race
launch trajectories and launch windows. unfolded in the 1950s and early 1960s, other countries and
organisations developed their abilities to place satellites into
By the time a mission is ready to launch, ESOC has all its orbit for scientific research and applications such as weather
systems in place, and liaises with Europe’s spaceport in forecasting, telecommunications, television and resource
Kourou, French Guiana to prepare for liftoff. From minutes management. In Europe in 1962, the European Space
after launch and insertion into orbit, ESOC takes control. Research Organisation (ESRO), one of the two precursors
It maintains real-time contact with missions near Earth, of today’s ESA, was founded (the other was the European
orbiting the Sun or voyaging deep in our Solar System and Launcher Development Organisation, ELDO). ESRO had
determines the real-time position, speed and attitude of already been operating a facility in Darmstadt for four years
satellites in space as they perform their celestial dances. before what we now recognise as ESOC came into being.
ESOC maintains real-time contact with missions and

determines the position, speed and attitude of satellites
in space as they perform their celestial dances.
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As ESRO was being formed, its committees discussed Belgium and Italy all proposed sites for use by October
where to locate the main constituent sites. In addition 1961. Darmstadt was the sole selection for the European
to headquarters, the organisation would have one Space Data Analysis Centre (ESDAC), although it
establishment devoted to engineering and testing later fought off competition from sites in the UK and
satellites and payloads, as well as a science laboratory Switzerland. By the time voting was complete, in April
and a data centre. France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, 1962, Darmstadt’s role in the future of space in Europe
the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, was settled.
↓ ESOC gatehouse, 1967

operations
↑ Siemens 330 computer used to support LEOP activities from 1976
Settling in Darmstadt Although the computer filled entire rooms, today’s mobile
telephones far exceed its capacities. Keyboards were
The first office was staffed by just three people and was non-existent and commands were inputted with punch
located on the Rheinstraße in Darmstadt. The facilities cards. Computer displays were not yet known. Debatin
initially housed large mainframe computers for the analysis says, “There were only line printers and they spewed out
and study of recovered satellite data. only octal numbers which we had to convert in our heads.”
Engineers could only deduce from the computer’s flashing
“Space travel came to Darmstadt because one of Germany’s signals whether the satellite was working.
few mainframe computers was in the German data centre in
the Rheinstraße at the time,” recalled Kurt Debatin, head of The initial years are vividly described in the book How to
ESOC’s Computer Division until 1997. He was among the first Survive Space, a memoir by Madeleine Schäfer, which was
space generation in Darmstadt. In 1965, he joined ESDAC as published for ESOC’s 30th anniversary and is now available
a systems analyst. online. She began work in ESDAC in June of 1964, when the
Young ESOC engineers of today cannot imagine that

we had to train with and actually use these devices to
calculate orbits.
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↑ ESOC Main Building in 2002
office was based in Havelstraße, and recalls a warm summer moved to Darmstadt, to form ESOC. With the renaming
and stimulating conversation. Over the following months, a and repurposing for spacecraft operations, the centre and
larger staff and more computers were brought to Darmstadt, its staff – now numbering 90 – moved to a new facility
and Madeleine recounts stories of programmers working on on the western side of Darmstadt. ESOC was opened on
hundreds of punch cards at a time and the gradual infiltration 8 September 1967 by then Minister of Research of the
of the English word ‘computer’ into German. Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Stoltenberg.
ESOC’s permanent home The move of Control Centre staff and hardware from
Noordwijk to Darmstadt was decided in a resolution in April
In those early years, spacecraft operations had been 1967, leaving a little over a year for the change to take place
assigned to ESTEC – which started out in Delft and then before the planned launch of the ESRO-2B scientific research
moved to its current site of Noordwijk, the Netherlands. satellite. Staff adapted quickly to new lives in a new country,
In 1967, teams from ESLAB and ESTEC in Noordwijk, were while also working long hours in anticipation of the launch.
Sure, we knew one day we would be able to do a mission

to Mars or Venus, and in fact we are doing so. But to fly
to a comet did – like Rosetta – that was only a dream.

operations
Aerial view of ESOC in 2008
The launch went ahead and by May 1968, ESOC was already technical and aesthetic makeovers of the main control
conducting its first operations, controlling ESRO-2B, the first room. An extension was added in 2003 to house the Rosetta
in a long series of successful missions operated from ESOC Engineering Model, which had a vital role in the mission
for ESRO, and later ESA. when new software was tested on the ground.
As ESOC thrived, office space was beginning to get scarce. The combined building, or ‘H’ Building, was planned first
ESOC’s 184 staff were housed in a building intended 30 years ago, and was opened in phases in the late 1980s
for 80, along with all the necessary supercomputers. and early 1990s. The old stores building and barracks
Madeleine Schäfer recalls, “It had been built to house a new were demolished to make way for the new building and
super computer (an IBM 360 – the crème de la crème of a multistorey car park. New conference facilities in the H
computers), its attendants (mathematicians, physicists and Building were in place for the launch of ERS-1 in July 1991, and
programmers), and a few administrative staff, in total about have since become familiar to millions of viewers around the
80 people. It had not been designed for an entire Control world as they hosted televised events such as the Huygens
Centre with sophisticated wiring and air-conditioning probe landing on Titan, and the Rosetta comet landing.
requirements, not to mention the Control Centre people
from ESTEC plus a plethora of new staff.” New office space was added again under a plan unveiled
in 2011, while ESOC has also been working to diminish its
The solution at the time was to use every bit of space environmental impact. A new secure area was also required
available – not excluding lavatories – and start work on the for the Galileo satellites. Technical upgrades have been less
first of many extensions to the centre. obvious, but vital.
A growing centre of excellence During 2005, 100 km of new data cabling was needed, while
the control centre got new voice-intercom and video-display
Construction of the purpose-built operations Control systems. It seems almost unimaginable that communication
Centre (OCC) at ESOC began in 1970 and was completed between different ground stations was once by a dedicated
in March 1971. The project would provide a dedicated Telex network.
control facility capable of processing three simultaneous
telemetry datastreams and displaying the data to several Today, the computers and networks at ESOC have little
spacecraft control positions. The building has been extended in common with systems of the 1960s and 1970s. Back
and refurbished in the intervening years, including the in the 1960s, the technology used at ESOC to operate
development of facilities for individual missions and missions is hardly imaginable to the cell-phone toting,
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→ esoc 50 years
↑ Paolo Ferri and the ESA Rosetta flight control team prepare for the last command to the spacecraft in 2016
home-computer using, high-speed internet citizens of dynamics analyst who joined ESDAC/ESOC in 1966,
today. Computers filled rooms and were commanded, not speaking on the occasion of ESOC’s fortieth anniversary.
by a keyboard, but by punch cards, with coded characters He recalled that, in the early days, everything was focused
laborious punched into many stacks of them. on low- and near-Earth orbits – or on flying to the Moon.
In 50 years, satellites controlled from ESOC have voyaged “Sure, we knew one day we would be able to do a mission
deep into our Solar System, exploring not only our home to Mars or Venus, and in fact we are doing so. But to
planet, but also the Moon, the Sun, Venus, Mars and Titan. fly to a comet – like Rosetta – that was only a dream.”
Jean-Francois Kaufeler, responsible for ground systems
The establishment of ESOC and the subsequent evolution infrastructure at ESOC, remembers his initial years at
of ESRO and ELDO into ESA with the Ariane launcher ESOC – and the start of the ESA era, “I have always been
programme proved that Europeans working together impressed by the cooperation here between people of
could not only build satellites and boosters, but could also different nationalities, different cultures and individual
operate sophisticated missions as well. work styles. Today, the level of mutual understanding has
progressed much further and cooperation is easier.”
Computer-filled rooms
Kaufeler sees this as an advantage for the future of ESOC,
“Young ESOC engineers of today cannot imagine that “In the future, we will continue sharing the expertise of
we had to train with and actually use these devices engineers and scientists from different nations and build
to calculate orbits,” said Siegmar Pallaschke, a flight ever closer cooperation.”
No one had come so close to a comet yet

– not even NASA – let alone dared a landing.
The risks were too great.

operations
By the mid-1980s, ESOC was already controlling the comet

↓ ESOC Climbing Club members unfurl a banner hunter, Giotto, ESA’s first deep-space mission. Tracking
on the new ESOC II buildings in 2013 spacecraft through complex trajectories millions of
kilometres away and receiving huge amounts of valuable
scientific data from onboard instruments have required
new methods, hardware and software; ESOC has constantly
upgraded as the mission demands have increased.
“The Russians led the way and NASA’s budget was always
ten times higher than ours. We Europeans were not really
taken seriously,” recalled Manfred Warhaut, Director of
Mission Operations at ESOC until 2013. Europe’s image
changed with missions such as Giotto, and Huygens that
landed on Titan in 2005.
“And we even overtook the Americans with Rosetta,” said

Manfred proudly. He managed the mission until 2006 and
was one of the faces of the mission on ESA TV as its exploits
unfolded. Another key figure during the Rosetta mission was
Paolo Ferri, Head of ESA Mission Operations, who has been at
ESOC for more than 30 years. Ferri’s first mission was EURECA
– the European Retrievable Carrier that NASA sent into space
in 1992 on a Space Shuttle and retrieved a year later.
“That was a great mission and adventure,” recalls Ferri, who

was a 32-year-old operations engineer at the time. “When I
first began working in ESOC, I immediately got the missions
operations bug. That was what I wanted to do.” Rosetta was
to prove a huge challenge, and a European first. “We had no
experience,” said Ferri.
The approximately seven billion-kilometre journey to

rendezvous with the comet, parts of which were nearly a billion
kilometres from Earth and 800 million kilometres from the
Sun, was uncharted territory even for the most experienced
10 www.esa.int
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ESOC Main
Control Room
engineers as well as people in flight dynamics and operations. captured by TV cameras, photographers and global media,”
“No one had come so close to a comet yet – not even NASA – let Densing added.
alone dared a landing. The risks were too great.”
Flying into the future
Ferri remembered the predictions from across the Atlantic,
that ‘The Europeans will never manage that’, but he said, The decades have further proven that many activities
“The enthusiasm always outweighed the anxiety.” in space can only be achieved through international
cooperation. ESOC is also a hub for software development,
ESOC is today ESA’s ground segment hub, with control rooms as the complexity and sophistication required for mission
for each of the spacecraft now in operation, and separate control systems grows from one mission to the next.
control rooms for computer networks and for ESA’s Estrack
ground tracking station system. The global network of eight ESOC’s engineers, scientists and technicians have always
stations includes three giant 35 m antennas in Australia, been passionate about humankind’s voyages into the
Spain and Argentina; all engineering and design work for Universe. In the past, they combined boundless enthusiasm
these marvellous devices is also done at ESOC. and superb expertise to achieve great aims. In the future,
they will lead us further than we ever imagined. ESA’s
Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Mission Operations and operations experts have celebrated many historic firsts at
Head of ESOC, believes joint efforts, pooling of skills and ESOC over the decades, including Giotto’s flyby of Halley’s
competences are key. He believes ESOC has a role at the heart Comet in 1986 and Rosetta’s landing on Comet 67P/
of ESA, not merely as a centre of operations where engineers, Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.
mathematicians and astrophysicists are able to calculate one-
off missions such as the ten-year journey to a comet. The 50th anniversary of ESOC is a shared celebration, with
all of those who have worked at or visited the site, and
“ESOC is important to ESA’s identity. This is where successes with the local community in Darmstadt. While we control
are celebrated and emotions come to the fore. Everyone spacecraft millions of kilometres away, our hearts will
comes together here and toasts successful missions, to be always be in Europe. ■
While we control spacecraft millions of kilometres

away, our hearts will always be in Europe.

operations and telecommunications
12
www.esa.int
→ esec
→ THE EVOLUTION OF ESEC
The European Space Security and Education
Centre at Redu
Daniele Galardini
Directorate of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, ESEC, Redu, Belgium
Cindy Leonard and Sabrina Guillaume

Redu Space Services, ESEC, Redu, Belgium
Member State flags at ESEC,

Redu, Belgium

Since 1968, the postcard village of Redu in the

Belgian Ardennes has been connected with space.
First hosting a tracking facility, the site has now
been renamed as a fully fledged ESA centre.
Just short of its 50th anniversary, ESA’s base in Belgium will

now be known by a new name: the European Space Security
and Education Centre, or ESEC. Letters posted to ‘ESA REDU
Belgium’ over many years led to this becoming the recognised
public name, but in fact it has been an ESA centre since 2007.
Redu has been engaged in new activities for several years, and
has been given its new name to reflect that.
Between 2014 and 2017, ESA began some promising new

work in space cyber security and education. After a search
for an appropriate acronym to describe Redu and
its activities, ESA Director General Jan Woerner
decided to rename it as ESEC, not as a way
of limiting its mission to the innovative
activities but to strengthen their future
in the centre. This new chapter begins just
before the centre’s anniversary next year and
exemplifies the growth and development over the
past half a century.
Five decades after the site was chosen, ESEC has grown
to cover more than 20 hectares in the municipality of
Libin, with around 50 radio dishes pointing mostly at
geostationary satellites. Some of its antennas are used
to control the Proba microsatellites and conduct in-orbit
testing of telecommunications and navigation satellites.
The site also houses the backup control centre for
the major Luxembourg satellite operator, SES.
The roots of Redu

The story of Redu starts at the very beginning of
the European space adventure. In the early 1960s,
everything was starting from scratch: launchers,
satellites and even the ground stations needed to
pursue and control the space vehicles and to allow
the computation of their orbital parameters.
Belgium was already one of the most active states

in the European Space Research Organisation
(ESRO) and the European Launchers Development
Organisation (ELDO) and immediately offered to
host technical facilities.
In 1963, ESRO decided to establish the European Space

Tracking and Telemetry Network. It was necessary to
have one of these facilities close to ESA’s European Space
Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). ESTEC was located
in Delft at that time but later moved to Noordwijk, in the
↑ Signage at Redu, 1960s Netherlands, so the tracking facility was earmarked for
Belgium, with a final location to be confirmed.
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←
The ECS satellite

control room, Redu, in
the 1980s
Surveys showed that the best site in terms of technical signals from ESRO’s scientific satellites in orbit to the
characteristics, and to minimise investments, was Redu. European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt,
In February 1965, with the agreement of ESRO, the Belgian Germany. These included: ESRO-2B (launched in May
government chose Redu, located 380 m above sea level and 1968), HEOS-A1 (December 1968), ESRO-1B (October 1969),
situated in a natural basin amid pasture and woodland. HEOS-A2 (January 1972), TD-1A (March 1972), ESRO-4
The topography of the site, a natural amphitheatre, and its (November 1972), ANS (the Netherlands’ first satellite,
remoteness from towns, provide natural protection from August 1974) and COS-B (August 1975) – all European
radio interference. satellites launched by NASA.
At that time, there was no security fence marking the station’s The European Telecommunication Satellite Organisation
boundary. Instead, at the entrance to the site, there were (Eutelsat) was founded as an intergovernmental entity
some unusual road traffic signs. Motorists were met with for satellite communications in 1977. It used ESA’s first
a stop sign, a red light and a sign saying: ‘Stop when red communication satellite programme, Orbital Test Satellite
light shows and turn off engine. Satellites passing overhead. (OTS), along with ESA for more than 13 years. OTS led to the
Approximate duration: ten minutes’. Warned against causing European Communications Satellites (ECS) for use by Eutelsat.
interference with their tractor engines, Redu farmers became
participants in Europe’s great space adventure. Under a 10-year agreement, ESA provided the first-generation
space segment for Eutelsat, which became the owner of
Since 1968, Redu has been part of Estrack, formerly ESRO’s each satellite after the in-orbit testing performed from the
and now ESA’s satellite tracking and control network. It ESA Redu station, where the control centre was installed.
participated in many European science missions, relaying The last payload was handed over in 1988 and operated until

← →
Then and
now: during
construction
of the
interferometer
site in the 1960s
and a current
aerial view
1 December 2002, when the final command to shut down In 2009, Proba-2, a solar mission, was launched, followed in
ECS-4 was sent. Eutelsat began launching its own satellites 2013 by Proba-V (V for ‘Vegetation’) for monitoring Earth’s
and became a private company in 2001. vegetation every 10 days. Future Proba missions operations
will also be handled in Redu.
Expanding capabilities
Thanks to its several decades of experience in testing
During 2001–14, Redu hosted the Artemis Mission Control telecommunication payloads, it was naturally decided to
Facility to schedule user services, the Ka-band ground install the in-orbit testing facilities for European navigation
terminal with a 13.5 m-diameter dish, serving as a user satellites in Redu. It started with GIOVE-A and -B testing,
ground station and all the facilities used to test the status of using a specific antenna. GIOVE satellites were precursors of
the different payloads. the Galileo satellites, to validate the new signals and some
state-of-the-art technologies from space.
Artemis clocked up a number of ‘firsts’ in the space field
during its recovery process: first optical inter-orbit satellite Later, a custom-designed L-band 20 m dish was installed for
link, first major reprogramming of a telecom satellite testing Galileo payloads. Such a big antenna is necessary for
in orbit, first transfer to geostationary orbit using ion the detailed analysis of the spread of signals that are used to
propulsion, and survival of the longest-ever operational allow accurate timing and positioning. In addition, a C-band
drift orbit. It also provided the much-needed promotional antenna was installed to uplink test navigation signals to
opportunity and stimulus for Europe’s future data-relay the satellites, as well as a Yagi UHF antenna to transmit test
services, EDRS. Telecom antennas, used for ESA and third- signals through the search and rescue transponder of the
party programmes, have changed the shape of this site Galileo satellites.
over the years – and this will continue.
As consequence of the in-orbit testing conducted from
The expertise acquired through controlling ECS satellites Redu, the Redu-1 antenna, a 15 m S-band dish, has been
positioned Redu as the site for routine operations of ESA’s incorporated into the Galileo Telemetry Tracking and
small and low-cost missions such as Proba, as part of the Commanding Facility network that allows the Galileo
In-Orbit Demonstration Programme. The first, Proba-1, Control Centre near Munich in Germany to continuously
validated new spacecraft autonomy and three-axis control monitor and control the Galileo constellation of satellites.
and data system technology. The Proba-1 main payload
is the novel CHRIS imaging spectrometer. Launched on In-orbit testing of the navigation and search and rescue
22 October 2001, its mission was initially foreseen for payload is a key milestone in satellite lifetime because it is
two years but it is still serving the scientific community, the mandatory step before the satellite is declared ready to
becoming our longest serving Earth observation satellite. provide navigation services to citizens and customers.
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→ esec
The emergence of ESEC Some steps have been already taken toward the
implementation of this vision. Thanks to initial Belgian
Redu’s new title acknowledges its role as the European investment, and building on the recommendations of two
reference centre for cyber security services. ESA will be ESA (classified) parallel studies about potential cyber threats
a catalyst through its interest in cyber security, with the to ESA, the first European ‘space-assets training range
objective of having a reference centre for cyber security specialised in cyber security’ has been established in ESEC.
matters operated by industry. ESA will be one of the users,
and the owner of the part of it that relates to space. The range of capabilities
in training will evolve
Several companies interested in ESEC business as a ‘Cyber Security
have already expressed their views regarding their Centre of Excellence’
development about future plans related to cyber security in the framework
on the site. A consolidated assessment of these strategies of the ARTES
shows that all of the companies involved in cyber security
connected with ESA programmes also operate in other
domains, and that they can exploit overlaps between
ESA and external activities.
The custom-designed L-band 20 m

dish installed for testing Galileo
King Philippe
of Belgium
visited ESA’s
centre at Redu
on 17 March
2015
Competitiveness and Growth programme co-funded by • complementary academic training in areas of ESA’s
industry and the Belgian authorities. expertise for university students across Europe.
Thanks to this, in 2019, the ESEC Cyber Security Centre of These are unique hands-on opportunities to gain, within
Excellence will include education and training offering a a working space environment, significant practical
wide range of professional development in cyber security: experience during the full life cycle of real space projects.
awareness, hosted hands-on tools and procedure training
supported by operational use cases, for example. This will Since 2014, the Education Office has offered an e-robotics
involve research, development, integration and testing of lab to primary and secondary teachers that focuses on
advanced cyber security technologies applicable to space- robotics and related sciences such as engineering, physics,
based assets and supporting ground systems, as well mathematics and informatics. This infrastructure is
as security evaluation of space systems and solutions, fully operational and has already welcomed hundreds of
including resilience to cyber threats. European teachers.
The ESA Academy

Education is also vital. As a mandatory activity in the ↓ Courses in a range of specialised engineering subjects
ESA Convention, it is another crucial component of are now held at the ESA Academy, based at ESEC
the Agency’s undertakings such as space sciences,
engineering or technology. It is an unquestionable
investment in our competitiveness and in the
development of the future workforce, which is needed by
Europe to implement its space strategy.
In close partnership with Member States, and

continuously seeking to offer improvement and
new opportunities to the Member States’ education
communities, the ESA Education Office programme offers:
• classroom resources tailored to the curricula taught by

primary and secondary education teachers with training
opportunities using space in a training and learning
context;
18 www.esa.int
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←
The Galaxia
space business
park, where the
ESA Business
Incubator Centre
Wallonie Redu,
the Galileo
Logistic Centre
and the Euro
Space Visitor
Centre are already
based
Education is vital. As a mandatory activity in the

ESA Convention, it is another crucial component of
the Agency’s undertakings.
One centre, two sites

In March 2016, the site introduced participants to the
ESA Academy Training and Learning Centre which, in ESA has accepted the offer from IDELUX, a public company
collaboration with universities and academic institutions, devoted to the development of the Belgian Luxembourg
aspires to transfer the expertise, knowhow and best Province, to host the ESA Academy in its Galaxia space
practices of ESA to European university students. business park, where the ESA Business Incubator Centre
Wallonie Redu and the Galileo Logistic Centre are
Equipped with a Concurrent Engineering Centre already based. This means that ESEC can concentrate its
(or Concurrent Design Facility), the ESA Academy operational and cyber security activities in Redu and that
complements technical and scientific training courses on the educational activities can take place at Galaxia.
subjects such as technology transfer, mission operations,
project and risk management, gravity-related research Since 2007, Redu Space Services SA (RSS) has provided
and space medicine. This set-up is fully operational and maintenance and operation services in ESEC, as well as
has already welcomed more than 200 European students. facilities management services. RSS is a Belgian company
founded by SES TechCom and Qinetiq Space. Other
Educational CubeSats have become a vital component companies in ESEC include Rhea, Vitrociset, EPB and
of learning for young engineers and scientists. In perfect Creaction. They all have a long association with the centre,
symbiosis with the ESA Academy Training and Learning and are diversifying and expanding their work. Rhea and
Centre, an assembly, integration and verification Vitrociset constitute the consortium that has provided the
infrastructure, equipped to ESA standards, will begin first cyber security demonstration facility in ESEC.
this year providing university students involved in the
development of CubeSats with unique end-to-end As Redu transforms into ESEC, it brings invaluable history
support, from the design phase to operations in orbit. and experience to a new series of challenges. ■

earth observation
Meteosat-1 being prepared for

launch inside the Delta fairing,
17 November 1977 (NASA/ESA)
20 www.esa.int
→ meteosat
→ FORTY YEARS OF METEOSAT
Europe’s geostationary weather satellites
reach milestone
Ruth McAvinia
Communications Department, ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Meteosat-1 was launched on 23 November 1977 and The addition of weather information from space has
became ESA’s first Earth observation satellite. It improved forecasting and saved many lives, as well as
marked the start of true European cooperation in building a better picture of global atmospheric patterns.
meteorological satellites, and completed coverage
of the whole globe from geostationary orbit. The first photograph of cloud cover from space was taken
by Vanguard-2 in 1959, while atmospheric monitoring
Many aspects of our lives are dominated by the weather – from space began in earnest in 1960 with Tiros-1, the first
our well-being and prosperity rely on it. The economic and weather satellite. From low orbit, Tiros-1 sent back television
social benefits of accurate weather forecasts are immense pictures with the aim of informing weather forecasters
and include improved efficiencies in agriculture, better and emergency managers on the ground about immediate
planning of transport and energy networks, and better threats from the weather. The first geostationary weather
preparation for hazardous conditions. Weather satellites satellites were launched in the mid-1960s by the United
can be used to gather data for immediate use, and for States, but it was not until the 1970s that a coordinated
long-term climate characterisation. global effort of weather prediction was begun.

earth observation
In Europe, Earth observation satellites had begun with

monitoring of the ionosphere by individual countries.
The United Kingdom worked with NASA to launch Ariel-1
in 1962, while Italy had conducted measurements in the
ionosphere with the San Marco-1, also launched from the
United States in cooperation with NASA.
France used its own rocket and launch site in French Guiana
to launch Astérix, which briefly conducted ionospheric
research, followed by FR-1. The need for a European weather
satellite came under discussion by the European Space
Conference in the mid-1960s – a body combining members
of the Conférence Européenne des Télécommunications par
Satellites and of ESA’s predecessors, the European Space
Research Organisation (ESRO) and the European Launcher
Development Organisation. On a global scale, the World
Meteorological Organization had also called on Europe
to take the opportunity to be involved in world efforts in
satellite meteorology.
A global aim
Before the satellite era, weather prediction had relied on
surface observations from weather stations on land or on
ships and buoys, combined with some measurements from
kites, balloons and aircraft. The development of satellites,
along with new computing power, offered the possibility of
modelling the atmosphere in detail never seen before, and
predicting weather events before they were visible – the
era of numerical weather prediction had begun.
Data from polar-orbiting satellites combined with

information from geostationary orbits would be vital in
composing this picture of the atmosphere. The European
Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
had been founded in 1975 to pool meteorological resources
between its member states and to produce climate and
weather forecast data. Global cooperation in sharing raw
data as well as computer model outputs improved forecasts ↑ Launch of Meteosat-1 on
worldwide. 23 November 1977 (NASA/ESA)
→ EUROPEAN EARTH OBSERVATION MISSIONS

tion
rva
teo t-2
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LAUNCH 1977 1981 1988 1989 1991 1991
22 www.esa.int
Met
1993
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1995
Ear -2
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1997
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Tec a-1
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Ear ology
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2002
iron
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↑ Testing the Meteosat-1 Thermal Model at the Centre Spatial de Toulouse in France in 1975
lm
oni
tor
in g
MS
G
Me -1
2002
teo
rolo
g y
MS
G
Me -2
2005
teo
European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

rolo
g y
23
→ meteosat
earth observation
→ Meteosat vital statistics

Launch date 23 November 1977
Launch vehicle Delta 2914
Launch site Cape Canaveral, Florida
Mass 697 kg including 345 kg for the ejectable apogee boost motor
(ABM) and 60 kg for the ABM and third-stage attach fittings
Prime contractor Aérospatiale (Cannes)
Reached geostationary orbit 7 December 1977
Main instruments Imaging radiometer
Data collection platform
Data collection platform 2.1 m diameter, 3.195 m high
Dimensions Spin-stabilised 100 rpm
The Europeanisation of Meteosat had already been decided that Meteosat-2 would be launched
by Ariane in 1980, signalling that ESA’s involvement in
Meteosat began life as a French project, with involvement meteorological satellites would not be a one-off.
both from CNES and from the meteorological service in
France. The project had performed initial feasibility studies Launch and operation
and worked on the original design for the radiometer.
Meanwhile, ESRO was considering possibilities for polar- The launch of Meteosat-1 was a cause for celebration, but
orbiting and geostationary satellites. Once settled on a there were a few tense moments. The first attempt on 20
geostationary satellite for Europe, it was obvious that this November 1977 had to be scrubbed just two hours before
would be a duplication of the French effort. Over a long liftoff after the discovery of stray radio signals. John Krige
period of fact-finding and negotiation, the foundations were recalls the story in his history The European Meteorological
laid for the Meteosat project to evolve into a European one. Satellite Programme. The signals involved matched those
By this time, ESRO had become part of the new European used as a safety measure to destroy rockets in flight should
Space Agency. they go off track. The source of the signals was identified
and confirmed by NASA: an accidental transmission from a
Rather than uproot the whole operation from France, it was tracking ship.
decided to establish an ESA office in Toulouse, from where
Meteosat could be developed and guided under the direction With no further concerns about the range, Meteosat-1 left
of Dieter Lennertz. The solution was only temporary as the the ground at 13:35 GMT on 23 November 1977. Meteosat-1
team from Toulouse eventually disbanded, but it served to reached its orbit on 7 December 1977, and its first image was
smooth the transition. Before Meteosat-1 was launched, it sent back on 9 December.
re
nt
ts
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init oistu
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ice shee
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an oil m
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sea ice
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2006 2009 2009 2010 2012 2012 2013
24 www.esa.int
Cop
2014
Lan ernic
d, i us
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and Sent
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2013
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2017
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oni Sen
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ing tinel
-2 B
25
→ meteosat
earth observation
The new geostationary ESA missions needed a new and

much more powerful computing system. At the European → A policy puzzle
Space Operations Centre (ESOC), this system, later to be
termed the multisatellite support system was designed The need for Meteosat was clear, but the means for
to process telemetry data from up to six separate satellite bringing it about as a European project was significantly
sources, to generate telecommand in real time and to drive less so. ESRO had a science remit, but meteorology
up to 13 alphanumeric displays in the Operations Control nudged it into the realm of space applications. While
Centre control room. In addition to this new computer the telecommunications community had taken over
system, a second and even larger system would be needed responsibility for satellite communications through
to support the Meteosat image data processing as Meteosat Eutelsat, the meteorological community across Europe
would transmit raw-image data at 166 kbit/s every half hour, was not yet prepared to take over responsibility for a
24 hours a day. To cope with this task and to provide all the satellite system.
other functions needed to support the Meteosat mission,
the Meteosat ground computer system was installed. Unlike Eutelsat, the meteorological satellites would
not yield a profit, and so funding had to be put in place
Meteosat joined the Global Atmospheric Research for the continuing operation and management of the
Programme (GARP) and was quickly called into service to be satellites and programmes. The structure for Meteosat
part of the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE). Although was put in place following a legal arrangement made
Meteosat failed just before the end of the experiment in 1972 between ESA and eight of its Member States
period, FGGE was one of the biggest cooperative scientific (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden,
ventures of the era, and provided a truly global dataset Switzerland and UK).
for atmospheric science for the first time. The experiment
was important in proving that imagery from space was There was a gap of almost a decade between the
worth the investment, both in the space segment and the launch of Meteosat-1 and the official founding of
extensive ground segment needed. Eumetsat, with clear operational responsibilities and
funding. Even then it transpired that its conventions
From its position over the Greenwich meridian, Meteosat-1 needed to be rewritten once it was ready to develop its
could scan Earth’s full disc every 30 minutes, with the data own satellite programmes. Eumetsat has since grown
being provided in near-real time to users. Meteosat could to 30 member states, and continues to develop new
detect clouds in the atmosphere and by tracking their satellites in cooperation with ESA.
movements, also give information about wind speed and
direction (see ESA Bulletin No.3, October 1975). It was the first
satellite in geostationary orbit to have a water vapour channel
to track the motion of moisture in the air. From the early days A proud record
of the discussion, the volume of data generated was also
important: how would it all be processed in time to be of use? Since the launch of the first Meteosat, 40 years of
This is still a problem in numerical weather prediction today imagery and derived meteorological data have helped
even though computer power continues to increase. to significantly improve weather forecasting, with direct
or
rin urs
nt
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2017 2017 2018 2018 2018 2020 2020
26 www.esa.int
MT
G
2021
Me -I-1
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Met
2021
Me Op Se
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2022
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↑ Meteosat-1, launched in 1977, was Europe’s first meteorological satellite

Met
2022
Me Op Se
teo
rolo cond
gy G ene
rat
ion
B
MT
G
Me -S-1
2023
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Cop
Eur ernic
2023
ope u s
an Sen
air

qua tinel
lity -4
mo
27
nito
rin
g → meteosat
earth observation
↑ One of the polaroids saved by ZDF showing original

Meteosat-1 imagery (Eumetsat)
→ MSG-1 is installed on the launcher, at the final

assembly building August 2002 (ESA/CNES-Service
Optique CSG)
→ → Meteosat Third Generation prototype antenna

undergoing testing
benefits to users such as air and marine transportation, errors across the satellite record, bridging multiple
as well as, for example, the construction, energy, retail, different instruments, operators and eras.
agriculture and leisure industries. Lives have also been
saved through the warning and earlier evacuation of There are 35 years’ worth of Meteosat imagery available
populations threatened by hurricanes and other severe online, but the original Meteosat-1 images are a rarer
weather events. commodity. In 1978, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
worked with ESOC to broadcast satellite imagery as part
One of Meteosat’s most notable achievements was the of the weather forecast. The images were produced by
contribution it made to the forecast of Hurricane Andrew taking a polaroid photograph of a computer screen in
in 1992, allowing air traffic to be rerouted and precautions ESOC. The photograph would then be couriered to Mainz
taken on the ground to limit damage. Meteosat-3 was to be broadcast on television. ZDF kept the polaroids and
occupying an unusual position, at 75°W over the US east they have since been digitised and can be accessed on the
coast, at the time. The satellite had been moved into this Eumetsat website. Since ZDF is a German broadcaster, the
position after the failure of the US GOES-East satellite, images were zoomed in on to show Germany.
which normally occupied it.
Serendipitous discovery
Meteosat began a record of imaging from space that
constitutes an important body of evidence in climate Eumetsat recently reported that some ‘lost’ imagery
science. Although the space era is short relative to climate from Meteosat-1 had been recovered. During celebrations
change over time, imagery and data from space are a last year to mark 30 years of Eumetsat, scientists long
useful component. Climate scientists use reanalysis to involved with the organisation were given a memory
ensure they compare similar records and do not introduce stick with the satellite data record for climate science
28 www.esa.int
→ meteosat
from 1 January 1984 onwards. The stick was missing two and to conduct reanalysis for climate science. Although
days’ worth of the images, prompting Paul Menzel of the the early meteorological satellites were not envisaged
Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, as tools for measuring climate change, imagery showing
part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space changes in land cover or polar ice and data on sea-surface
Science and Engineering Center (SECC) to investigate. temperature have become very useful for climate research
Dr Menzel didn’t find his quarry of the two missing days, and modelling.
but instead uncovered Meteosat-1 data from the FGGE –
the global experiment that incorporated some of the very A succession of Meteosats
earliest European data from geostationary orbit.
The Meteosat programme always has one satellite in the
The data, comprising 20 790 images originally collected operational position at 0° longitude. Additional satellites
in 1978–79, had been transferred to a different storage are currently over Africa and the Indian Ocean, while the
format, but otherwise ignored for decades. SSEC’s last of the Meteosat Second Generation satellites is being
engineers manager to piece the files together and stored in orbit. Meteosat Second Generation kept the
decode them to find the data. Then David Santek, who drum-shaped design of the original but is two and a half
had worked on the original code, provided modules for times larger and offers improved resolution, 12 spectral
navigating and calibrating the data. Against the odds, and channels as opposed to three on the original system, and
through hard work and collaboration, the data can now faster scanning. Meanwhile, on the ground, Meteosat
be restored to the satellite record. Third Generation is in development, with new capabilities
such as lightning detection, and will guarantee continued
This type of detective work has been conducted in various European monitoring of the atmosphere from space into
research institutes to preserve the satellite data record the 2030s. ■

human spaceflight & robotic exploration
→ THE CHINESE WAY
ESA astronaut training in China
Laylan Saadaldin
Communications Department, ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
30 www.esa.int
→ training in china
ESA astronaut Samantha
Cristoforetti is assisted by a
pressure suit technician during
the joint training in August

ESA astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and sharing the same values, goals and vision. Language was,
Matthias Maurer joined 16 Chinese astronauts as expected, the single most challenging obstacle, which
in August this year for nine days of sea survival we overcame with great enthusiasm and team spirit,
training off China’s coastal city of Yantai. The speaking a mixture of Chinese and English.”
ultimate goal is for ESA to establish a long-term
cooperation with China, and for ESA astronauts to Accompanying Samantha and Matthias were an ESA flight
fly on China’s space station. surgeon and training specialist to gain insights into the
different cultural nuances and approaches. ESA’s Head
Returning from space, astronauts need to be prepared for of Astronaut Training Rüdiger Seine added, “I see this as
any eventuality – including landing in water. Sea survival another milestone towards establishing good cooperation
is a staple of all training but this is the first time that other with China as a space partner.”
astronauts had joined their Chinese counterparts. (Chinese
astronauts are sometimes referred to as ‘taikonauts’). While this is the first time ESA astronauts have trained in
China, it is not the first collaboration. Last year, Chinese
Working in groups of three, the astronauts put on astronaut Ye Guangfu joined ESA’s caving course in
pressure suits and entered a mock Shenzhou capsule that Sardinia to experience an extreme environment as part of
was then released into the sea. The astronauts had to a multicultural crew.
swap their flightsuits for insulation and buoyancy suits
before jumping into inflatable boats. They then practised Both activities stem from the 2015 agreement to boost
rescue procedures with both a ship and a helicopter. collaboration between ESA and the China Manned Space
Agency, with the goal of flying European astronauts on
Samantha said, “The training was superbly planned and the Chinese space station from 2022. In the meantime,
conducted. It was a great opportunity to refresh my skills other training opportunities and joint activities are in the
and a first time practising capsule egress in the ocean pipeline for the agencies to get to know each other better.
with decent waves. This sea survival course was organised by the Astronaut
Center of China in cooperation with the Ministry of
“Most importantly, we were welcomed as colleagues and Transport’s Beihai Rescue Bureau.
friends by the ‘taikonauts’ and the instructors. Language
and cultural differences are obviously a challenge, but also Matthias concluded: “I am very much looking forward to
adds value, as we are all focused on the common goal of expanding our cooperation with our Chinese friends into
space exploration.” space.” ■
Matthias agreed, “The reception was warm. We truly felt Laylan Saadaldin is an EJR-Quartz writer for ESA
the spirit of belonging to one universal astronaut family,
In 2016, Chinese
astronaut Ye
Guangfu joined
an international
astronaut
team of Ricky
Arnold (NASA),
Sergei Korsakov
(Roscosmos),
Pedro Duque
(ESA), Jessica Meir
(NASA) and Aki
Hoshide (JAXA)
(ESA–V. Crobu)
32 www.esa.int
Matthias is picked
up from the sea by
helicopter

Samantha
and Matthias
join Chinese
colleagues for
a briefing on
their survival
equipment
We were welcomed as colleagues and friends by the

‘taikonauts’ and the instructors. Language and cultural
differences are obviously a challenge, but also add value.
→ The astronauts had to swap their

pressure suits for insulation and
buoyancy suits before egressing the
Shenzhou into inflatable boats. Here
Matthias jumps from the capsule
↘ Matthias and colleagues successfully

recovered
34 www.esa.int
Lowering Matthias onto the
recovery ship after being airlifted
I am very much looking forward to expanding our

cooperation with our Chinese friends into space.
A happy Matthias gives the

thumbs-up signal
after rescue by the recovery ship
35
Samantha gets into

Shenzhou capsule
The crews practised rescue

procedures with both a ship
and a helicopter
36 www.esa.int
↑ Samantha practises water entry wearing special
insulation/buoyancy suit
← The Shenzhou capsule is lowered into the sea
↓ Samantha helps her taikonaut crewmates to board

liferafts

→ PROGRAMMES
IN PROGRESS
Status at August 2017
Southern Europe,
Italy, Greece and the
Mediterranean, as seen
by ESA astronaut Paolo
Nespoli in August 2017
(NASA/ESA)

2014 2015 2016 2017
HUBBLE
SOHO
CASSINI-HUYGENS
XMM-NEWTON
CLUSTER
INTEGRAL
MARS EXPRESS
LISA PATHFINDER
SCIENCE PROGRAMME
MICROSCOPE
GAIA
JWST
BEPICOLOMBO
CHEOPS
SOLAR ORBITER (M1)
EUCLID (M2)
JUICE (L1)
PLATO (M3)
ATHENA (L2)
MSG
MTG
METOP
METOP-SG
CRYOSAT
SMOS
EARTH OBSERVATION
AEOLUS
PROGRAMME
SWARM
EARTHCARE
BIOMASS
FLEX
SENTINEL-1
SENTINEL-2
SENTINEL-3
SENTINEL-5 PRECURSOR
SENTINEL-6
ALPHASAT
TELECOMMS/NAVIGATION
EDRS
SMALLGEO
PROGRAMMES
GNSS-1/EGNOS
GALILEO
ELECTRA
NEOSAT
QUANTUM
SAT-AIS
PROBA-1
PROGRAMME
TECHNOLOGY
PROBA-2
PROBA-3
PROBA-V
EXOMARS
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT
& ROBOTIC EXPL.
ISS (COLUMBUS & ERA)
MPCV-ESM
I
FORETT
SEN
UET
E
LI
X A ISTO
ASTRONAUT FLIGHTS
PEAK
GERST
NESPO
MOGEN
PESQ
LELU CR
ALLO ARENT
2B
XB
-13
SKEL
S-9
ASIM
atch
YS
ELIPS PAYLOADS
LELU
PK-4
MASER
EML
EML
SP
CYTO
MAXU
SCA B
TRAN
TRIP
TRIP
TRANSPORTATION & HUMAN EXPLORATION

MSL
ARIANE 6
VEGA DEV. AND EXPL.

PROGRAMME
LAUNCHER
VEGA C
SOYUZ AT CSG
IXV
SPACERIDER
SSA
PERIOD 2
DEFINITION PHASE MAIN DEVELOPMENT PHASE OPERATIONS

2018 2019 2020 2021 COMMENTS
LAUNCHED APR 1990 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED DEC 1995 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED DEC 1999 / END OF MISSION 15 SEPT 2017
LAUNCHED OCT 1997 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED MID-2000 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED OCT 2002 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED JUN 2003 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2018
LAUNCHED DEC 2015 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL JUN 2017
LAUNCHED 22 APRIL 2016
LAUNCHED 19 DEC 2013 / NOMINAL MISSION END 2019
LAUNCH OCT 2018
LAUNCH OCT 2018 / MERCURY ARRIVAL 2025 / OPS 2026-27
LAUNCH DEC 2018 / OPERATIONS TO AUG 2022
LAUNCH FEB 2019
LAUNCH JUN 2021
LAUNCH JUN 2022
LAUNCH 2024
LAUNCH 2028
MSG-3 LAUNCHED JUL 2012 / MSG-4 15 JUL 2015 / OPS BEYOND 2018
LAUNCH MTG-I-1 DEC 2020 / MTG-S-1 AUG 2022
METOP-B SEP 2012 / METOP-C OCT 2018
LAUNCH METOP-SG A1 2021 / METOP-SG B1 2022
LAUNCHED 10 APR 2010 / OPS UNTIL 2019
LAUNCHED 2 NOV 2009 / OPS UNTIL 2019
LAUNCH 1 MAY 2018
LAUNCHED 22 NOV 2013
LAUNCH AUG 2019
LAUNCH 2021
LAUNCH 2022
LAUNCHED APR 2014 / APR 2016 / SENTINEL-1C LAUNCH END 2020
LAUNCHED 23 JUN 2015 / SENTINEL-2B LAUNCHED 6 MAR 2017
LAUNCHED SENTINEL-3A 16 FEB 2016 / LAUNCH SENTINEL-3B MAR 2018
LAUNCHED 13 OCT 2017
LAUNCH MAY 2020
LAUNCHED JUL 2013
LAUNCHED EDRS-A 29 JAN 2016 / EDRS-C LATE 2017
LAUNCHED 27 JAN 2017
OPERATIONS START 2008
IOV OCT 2011 & OCT 2012 / FOC 2014–15
LAUNCH MID 2021
LAUNCH END 2019
LAUNCH EARLY 2019
LAUNCH READINESS SATELLITE-A, MID 2018
LAUNCHED OCT 2001
LAUNCHED 2 NOV 2009 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 2011/12
LAUNCH LATE 2020
LAUNCHED MAY 2013
LAUNCHED 14 MAR 2016 / JULY 2020
COLUMBUS: FEB 2008 OPS UNTIL END 2020 / ERA LAUNCH DEC 2017
LAUNCH JUN 2019

CRISTOFORETTI: NOV 2014; MOGENSEN: SEP 2015; PEAKE: NOV 2015;
GERST
PESQUET: NOV 2016; NESPOLI: MAY 2017; GERST: MAY 2018

-C
RUBI
ACES
FOAM
LAUNCHES MASER 13: DEC 2015 / MAXUS-9: APR 2017

PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES INCLUDING LUNAR EXPLORATION;
PILOT & PROSPECT PDR OCT 2017
QUALIFICATION FLIGHT JUN 2020
FIRST LAUNCH FEB 2012 / VV10 AUG 2017

LAUNCH JUL 2019
FIRST LAUNCH OCT 2011
LAUNCHED FEB 2015

LAUNCH 2020
SYSTEM REQUIREMENT REVIEW, DEC 2011
STORAGE ADDITIONAL LIFE LAUNCH/READY FOR LAUNCH ASTRONAUT FLIGHT

programmes
KEY TO ACRONYMS and called the ‘Grand Finale’, are an opportunity to make
manoeuvres and trajectories that are riskier than usual, but
AM - Avionics Model LEO - Low Earth orbit
allow a potential harvest of unprecedented scientific results
AO - Announcement of Opportunity LEOP- Launch and Early Orbit Phase
AIT - Assembly, integration and test MoU - Memorandum of
in regions of the system not explored so far. A final close
AU - Astronomical Unit Understanding flyby of Titan (nicknamed the ‘farewell kiss’) was performed
CDR - Critical Design Review NEO - Near Earth object on 22 April to modify Cassini’s trajectory, providing the
CSG - Centre Spatial Guyanais PDR - Preliminary Design Review gravitational pull necessary to reduce the periapsis (nearest
EFM - Engineering Functional Model PFM - Proto-flight Model point) altitude from 2.467 Saturn radii to just 1.063 Saturn
ELM - Electrical Model PLM - Payload Module
radii, and reducing the orbital period to about a week. On
EM - Engineering Model PPP - Public–private partnership
this new trajectory, Cassini repeatedly crosses Saturn’s ring
EMC - Electromagnetic Compatibility PRR - Preliminary Requiremen
EQM - Electrical Qualification Model Review plane through a 2000 km wide gap between the upper
EQSR- Equipment Qualification QM - Qualification Model atmospheric layers of Saturn and the innermost D-ring.
Status Review SM - Structural Model
FAR - Flight Acceptance Review SRR - System Requirement Review The main science objectives of the Grand Finale include:
FM - Flight Model STM - Structural/Thermal Model direct in situ sampling of the ring particle composition and
FQR - Flight Qualification Review SVM - Service Module
of Saturn’s exosphere and innermost radiation belts; probing
GEO - Geostationary Earth orbit SVT - System Validation Testing
IPC - Industrial Policy Committee SWE - Space Weather the magnetic and gravity field in unprecedented detail
ITT - Invitation to Tender TM - Thermal Model to gain a better understanding of the magnetic dynamo
and interior structure of Saturn; measuring the relative
abundance of various chemical compounds of Saturn’s
ionosphere; observing the upper atmosphere for molecules
→→CASSINI–HUYGENS that escape the atmosphere itself and for water-based
molecules originating from the rings; constraining the total
The Cassini spacecraft is performing its final orbits around ring mass and observing its fine-scaled structures with the
Saturn. The last 22 orbits of the mission, initiated on 23 April highest resolution possible.
Cassini skimming the top of Saturn’s atmosphere during the its ‘Grand Finale’ (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
42 www.esa.int
→ in progress
XMM-Newton collects scientific data even when moving, so the centre of the plot corresponds to the centre of the
shifting its view from one X-ray object to another, Milky Way. The slew paths pass predominantly through
revealing more X-ray sources across the entire sky. This the ecliptic poles, indicated by the density of overlapping
image of a blue ‘ball of string’ illustrates the paths of slew paths to the top left and bottom right. The image
2114 telescope manoeuvres made between August 2001 was created as part of the updated XMM-Newton Slew
and December 2014. The plot is in galactic coordinates Survey Catalogue released in March.
The radio signal transmitted by the high-gain antenna is such as gravitational wave events. It can use the large field
used to perform ring occultations and gravity experiments of view of its sensitive X-ray and gamma-ray detectors
around the closest approach to Saturn. The ESA deep-space to pinpoint and accurately characterise properties of any
antennas at New Norcia and Malargüe are joining the NASA possible counterparts, if detected.
Deep Space Network to provide the best signal-to-noise ratio
for those measurements. The LIGO/Virgo trigger LVT151012 is one the three binary black-
hole merger events observed by LIGO in the first breakthrough
At the time of writing, Cassini’s 18th dive between the scientific run in 2015/16. Unlike the other two events
rings and Saturn has worked as planned. After a distant (GW150914 and GW151226), LVT151012 had a slightly lower
nudge from Titan, Cassini dropped closer to Saturn for its LIGO detection certainty and had just over a 90% chance of
first of the final five orbits, skimming the top of Saturn’s being of astrophysical origin. If astrophysical, it corresponded
atmosphere. As expected, the spacecraft had to use its to a merger of two black holes of 13 and 23 solar masses,
thrusters to offset the torque imparted by atmospheric drag. releasing gravitational wave radiation equivalent to a rest
energy of 1.5 solar masses in a fraction of a second.
→→INTEGRAL The positions of gravitational wave events detected

by LIGO have large uncertainties and the location of
Integral’s unique payload, comprising a set of large and LVT151012 could only be constrained to two very elongated
heavy detectors, allows it to detect the elusive weakly arcs, each spanning more than 60 degrees in the sky.
interacting low-energy gamma-ray photons from any Fortunately, a large fraction of the LIGO localisation of
direction of the sky at a given moment. Coupled with an LVT151012 was in the fields of view of the most sensitive
exceptionally stable background owing to the elongated Integral instruments at the time that the gravitational
orbit mostly far from Earth’s violent magnetosphere, this event occurred. Observation of the complete, extended,
makes it an ideal instrument to search for electromagnetic localisation of LVT151012 could only be obtained by
counterparts to sources of various impulsive transients, combining data from both Integral high-energy detectors

programmes
Integral can search for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave detections, although the sources of the gravitational
waves are difficult to locate (V. Savchenko/ISDC Data Centre for Astrophysics, CH)
and their active shields, i.e., of SPI (including SPI-ACS), IBIS →→ROSETTA
(ISGRI, PICsIT and IBIS/Veto).
One of the major science targets was to examine the comet
Although no electromagnetic counterpart was detected, it and its connection with the formation and early evolution
allowed the most stringent upper limit to be determined for of Earth and the Solar System. A number of studies have
a truly all-sky observation, constraining the ratio of energy already been published examining the constituents of the
released in gamma rays to the gravitational wave energy comet, and the implications of those detections for those
to less than 4.4 x 10–5. Stop press: Integral was among the early days of the Solar System. Most recently, a scientific
observatories to see electromagnetic signals related to the publication was published reporting the discovery of several
gravitational wave event GW170817 announced in October. isotopes of the noble gas xenon at Comet 67P/Churyumov-
44 www.esa.int
→ in progress
A dried out river valley with tributaries can be seen in this as revealed by spectrometers on orbiting spacecraft.
view of the Red Planet captured by ESA’s Mars Express High- Aqueously formed and chemically altered minerals testify
Resolution Stereo Camera on 21 February. The Libya Montes to past hydrothermal activity that may be linked to the
mountain area, located on the martian equator at the formation of the Isidis impact basin. For example, the
boundary of the southern highlands and northern lowlands, impact could have mobilised liquid water by melting
is one of the oldest regions on Mars. It was uplifted during subsurface ice that subsequently interacted with the
the formation of the 1200 km wide Isidis impact basin some ancient, volcanic mountain rocks.
3.9 billion years ago. The features here are indicative both of
flowing rivers and standing bodies of water, such as lakes or There are numerous craters in various states of
even seas that were present on early Mars. degradation, testament to the region’s long history.
Perhaps the most noticeable craters are the two situated
The prominent river channel that runs from south to north side by side close to the centre suggesting a double impact.
(left to right) apparently originates from the impact crater Another interesting crater on the left has subsequently
in the south, breaching its wall and flowing towards the experienced a collapse of its rim onto the valley floor.
north, navigating the local mountains. The valley is fed The rich diversity of geological features in this region
by numerous tributaries, pointing to extensive rainfall demonstrates the dynamic environment the planet has
and surface runoff from higher to lower regions. A similar witnessed, evolving from a warmer wetter climate that
channel runs across the bottom right of the scene. The enabled liquid water to flow freely across the surface, to
mineralogy in the Libya Montes region is very diverse, the arid world that we see today.
Gerasimenko. Xenon is the heaviest noble gas and its many Searching for xenon at the comet was one of the most
isotopes originate in different stellar processes, so it can crucial and challenging measurements we performed
provide information about our cosmic origins. with Rosetta, as it was very diffuse in the comet’s thin
atmosphere, so the navigation team had to fly Rosetta
This special fingerprint has been used by scientists to very close – 5 km to 8 km from the surface of the nucleus
investigate the composition of the early Solar System – for a period of three weeks, so that ROSINA could
and these Rosetta results show that the specific blend of obtain a significant detection of all the relevant isotopes.
xenon found at the comet closely resembles U-xenon, the Flying so close to the comet was extremely challenging
primordial mixture that scientists believe was brought to because of the large amount of dust that was lifting off
Earth during the early stages of Solar System formation. the surface at the time, which could confuse the star

programmes
Comet 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko seen on
15 May 2016 during the
period that dedicated
ROSINA instrument
measurements were
made to search for
xenon, an important
tracer of the early Solar
System’s composition
(ESA/Rosetta/NavCam)
trackers that were used to orient the spacecraft. A dedicated Frequency instrument on SOHO have at last found evidence
three-week period was implemented in the second half of a particular type of seismic wave in our Sun. These low-
of May 2016 as part of the mission extension operations, frequency waves, called gravity modes (or g-modes) reveal
when dust activity was less intense. This eagerly awaited that the Sun’s core is rotating four times faster than its
detection suggests that comets contributed about one surface. Gravity waves are fluid waves where buoyancy acts
fifth of the xenon in Earth’s ancient atmosphere and has as the restoring force, and are distinct from astronomical
established the first quantitative link between comets and gravitational waves.
the atmosphere of Earth.
Gravity waves are hard to find, because they have no clear
signatures on the solar surface. Sound waves, also called
→→SOHO pressure waves, or p-modes, on the other hand, are easy
to detect on the solar surface and have been extensively
After decades of searching, solar scientists examining used in helioseismic studies, but they don’t give us any
16.5 years of data obtained by the Global Oscillations at Low information about the Sun’s core. Scientists looked at a
Propagation pattern of g- and p-modes in the solar interior
46 www.esa.int
→ in progress
particular p-mode parameter that measures how long it satellite. All primary performance requirements of the DRS
takes for an acoustic wave to travel through the Sun and have been met with margin.
back to the surface again, which is known to be 4 hours
7 minutes. By applying analytical and statistical techniques During the post-operations phase, the science community
to the data, they were able to detect a series of modulations is focused on consolidating the data analysis, with the goal
in this p-mode parameter, which they interpreted as being of issuing the first batch of instrument papers by the end
due to the g-modes shaking the structure of the core. of the year. In addition, the operations teams are finalising
the lessons learnt from the mission, both in development
The signature of the imprinted g-waves suggests the core is and operation; this is timely given that the LISA mission was
rotating once every week, nearly four times faster than the selected for study as the third ‘Large’ class mission in the
observed surface and intermediate layers, which vary from Cosmic Vision programme in June.
25 days at the equator to 35 days at the poles. Detecting
the signature of a fast core rotation opens up a new set of The LISA Pathfinder science archive is now available. The
questions for solar physicists — such as how do differently archive can be accessed via http://lpf.esac.esa.int/lpfsa/
rotating layers of the Sun interact, what can we learn about
the composition of the core, and what are the implications for
stellar evolution and thermonuclear processes in the core? →→CHEOPS
Spacecraft development is on course for launch readiness
→→GAIA in late 2018. The platform and system AIT activities are
progressing. At Airbus Defence & Space (ES), the platform
The second Gaia Data Release (Gaia DR2) is in production. multi-layer insulation fit-check was completed and the
The processing is progressing toward the April 2018 release refurbished Remote Interface Unit reintegrated and tested.
date. After scientific assessment and recommendation by The first Integrated System Test (AOCS closed loop) has been
the Gaia Science Team, a Gaia DR2 pre-release was made executed, followed by the first part of the SVT 1 (focused
for three stars. These are stars being occulted by Chariklo on platform functionality), when the flight platform was
(twice) and Triton. Chariklo is an asteroid with rings and controlled from the Mission Operations Centre.
Triton is a moon of Neptune. The need to have the best
possible stellar position stems from the requirement to Instrument development is also progressing, although the
predict very precisely where the shadow of the event on schedule remains critical. The FM telescope passed its final
Earth can be observed. This way, mobile ground-based
telescopes can be positioned along the occultation path. So
far, two Chariklo events have taken place with promising
preliminary results for the asteroid and its rings. For Gaia,
these observations are also a confirmation of the quality of
the astrometric data gathered by the satellite and processed
by the Data Processing and Analysis Consortium.
→→LISA PATHFINDER
The demonstrated differential freefall performance of the
test masses greatly exceeded the mission requirements.
Being a demonstration mission, the performance was
relaxed compared with the requirement for the full LISA
mission. However, the demonstrated performance exceeded
the LISA requirements over the full LISA measurement
bandwidth goal. The mission has demonstrated that the
detection of low-frequency gravitational waves from space
is achievable, paving the way for LISA.
In addition to the European payload demonstration,

the US-provided Disturbance Reduction System (DRS)
was also operated on the satellite. DRS operations were CHEOPS flight platform at Spain during the insulation fit-check
primarily related to a novel thruster architecture (colloidal (Airbus D&S)
electrospray thrusters) as well as drag-free control of the

programmes
performance verification campaign and was delivered by followed by system electrical testing that confirmed the
Leonardo to the University of Bern and integrated with stack integrity. The next activities will be the commanded
the Focal Plane Module (FPM) EM. The FPM FM is the last modules separation and activation on all mechanisms
missing element for the instrument and is expected in on module level, i.e. solar array, HGAMA, MGAMA and
October. A first set of functional and performance tests Magnetometer Boom for the MPO; solar array- and
was run at instrument level with satisfactory results. thruster steering- mechanisms for the MTM. The MTM
Arianespace is targeting a launch at the end of 2018 as thermal vacuum/thermal balance test will complete the
passenger on a Soyuz. major system functional tests for this year. The schedule
remains stable and ground segment development and
validation plans were updated for a launch opportunity in
→→BEPICOLOMBO October 2018.
System-level AIT activities continued as planned. All

FMs, the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), the Mercury →→JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the JAXA-provided Mercury (JWST)
Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) were mounted on top of
each other to achieve the stacked launch configuration. The overall programme continues towards the planned
As a major project milestone, the mechanical testing launch date in October 2018. The Optical Telescope with
(consisting of acoustic noise, three-axis sine vibration and the Integrated Science Instrument Module (OTIS) is now at
launch vehicle adaptor separation test) was completed, NASA’s Johnson Space Center where cryogenic functional
and optical end-to-end tests are continuing. Operational
temperatures have been reached and testing has no major
BepiColombo environmental testing: the full spacecraft on issues. Integration of the spacecraft and the sunshield
vibration table at ESTEC were completed. The initial full deployment test of the
shield is planned in September. JWST will be launched on
an Ariane 5 ECA, and the contracts for the launch service
agreement and the launcher delta-qualification study
specific to JWST are progressing.
→→SOLAR ORBITER
The payload FM development is complete, all 10 instruments
have been delivered to the prime contractor. The
scientific instruments will simultaneously perform in
situ measurements and remote observations of the Sun
at 0.3 AU.
Spacecraft FM integration is continuing. In particular,

the instruments are being integrated and tested with
active participation of the scientists in the instrument
teams. Functional testing continues on the two spacecraft
Engineering Test Benches and on the FM avionics already
installed on the spacecraft.
Progress has been made on the remaining spacecraft units

in production. After acoustic and sine testing, the heat
shield underwent thermal testing. The panels of the payload
radiator assembly are being integrated and tested, and
high-performance thermally conductive straps are already
integrated with their corresponding instruments. The solar
generator FM wings were completed, with one wing fully
tested and the second in final stages of acceptance testing.
Solutions for straylight protection, for surface conductivity
and for cleanliness and contamination control are being
manufactured.
48 www.esa.int
→ in progress
The JWST OTIS module at Johnson Space Center’s cryo facility. The telescope is pointing upwards with the wings fully deployed
(NASA)

programmes
Solar Orbiter instrument panel showing PHI, METIS and SPICE optical units, and a number of instrument electronics units
including those for EUI and MAG (Airbus D&S)
The development of the Mission Operations Centre and performed. The instrument EM tests were delayed and have
Science Operations Centre development are preparing for not been completed. Instrument-level CDRs were held in
Ground Segment Implementation Review. Interface work January. No major technical issues were discovered, but the
with NASA/GSFC, NASA/KSC and United Launch Alliance for new FM development schedule showed a large delay. A delta-
the Atlas V-411 launcher service is progressing towards PDR. CDR is under way together with an independent review of the
schedule. Reviews are not complete, but it is confirmed that
the VIS FM delivery will be significantly delayed.
→→EUCLID
The instrument CDR for the Near Infrared Spectro-
Development is proceeding in the detailed design phase. Photometer (NISP) was completed, with flight hardware
The prime contractor is finalising the system design in manufacturing and integration now going ahead. The NISP
preparation for the System CDR. The PLM CDR was also held STM, used for instrument vibration and thermal vacuum
in June and showed that the design of the PLM is sound tests was delivered to industry for the PLM STM campaign.
and meets its challenging requirements. In the meantime, The procurement of the FM NISP HgCdTe detectors
many flight components are being manufactured. All the SiC production phase, under NASA responsibility, is ongoing.
reflectors optics have been manufactured and mechanically
polished and proceed under ion-beam figuring, an operation All detector FM elements have been manufactured and
that will continue for many months. All SiC baseplate eight tested, showing excellent performance. However, the front-
pieces (four each for STM and FM) have been manufactured, end electronics have shown serious anomalies, which led
with one part needing remanufacturing (leading to a NASA to discard all the units produced as unworthy for
significant delay of the PLM). flight. A Tiger Team was set up to investigate the cause of
the failure and propose modifications. Progress has been
The Visible Imager (VIS) instrument suffered considerable made in the last two months, but a large delay is expected
delay in the last year. The subsystem EMs and STMs were in the delivery of the new units. Fortunately a novel and
manufactured and the STM tests at instrument level were technically challenging characterisation test at instrument
50 www.esa.int
→ in progress
Avionics Model of the Tracking Telemetry and Control panel (Thales Alenia Space)
focal-plane level in the LAM laboratory in Marseille has moisture data in near-real time based on a neural network
been devised that will limit the delay of the NISP FM approach, have been included in the SMOS data catalogue.
delivery. Ground Segment development is progressing.
Because of the delays on the PLM (mostly on the
instruments side), the launch can no longer take place →→SWARM
in December 2020. A new launch date has not been
announced, because it is driven by the instrument delivery A resolution unanimously adopted by the participants
(VIS FM and the NISP detector front-end-electronics at the Fourth Swarm Science Meeting in March indicates
delivery). For planning purposes, a launch date of mid-June that the mission has, or by the end of its life will have, met
2021 is used. all of its requirements. Given the very strong impact of
the Swarm multipoint constellation in geospace research
and geophysics, combined with the fact that no similar
→→JUICE mission is on the drawing board anywhere in the world,
the same resolution also recommends that ESA and its
The overall schedule of the spacecraft is stable. The planned Member States provide the mission with a clear long-term
launch date is 1 June 2022 on an Ariane 5 ECA (in the middle of a perspective, ideally covering at least one full solar cycle (i.e.
launch window that starts on 20 May and closes on 10 June). until 2024) and if possible longer. The user community asks
for continued support to enable its groundbreaking research
through funding of novel analysis techniques and also
→→SMOS supporting orbital adjustments of the lower pair of satellites
aiming to maximise the science return.
Operations have been extended to 2019 and beyond,
pending a review in 2018. CNES has also extended its ESA is responding to these challenges in a variety of ways.
support to the mission operations to 2019 and potentially A plan is under development to operate the satellite
beyond. New products, such as sea-ice thickness and soil- constellation under its current funding envelope until

programmes
Aeolus with its complex optical ground support equipment prior to entry into the thermal/vacuum chamber at Centre Spatial
de Liège
the end of 2021, and at the same time address additional Preparations for the complex satellite thermal/vacuum test
science objectives. Secondly, ESA is in active consultation to campaign are continuing at the Centre Spatial de Liège.
implement support activities that would be best described The Ground Segment Acceptance Review was completed
as ‘Swarm for science’ rather than more limited endeavours with a remaining action for the project to produce a close-
targeting ‘science with Swarm’. This is an important step to out report upon validation of the planning and calibration
address key challenges in Earth system science, and it also facilities. The Satellite Qualification and Acceptance Review
clearly signals that Swarm-like measurements should be began with the delivery of the first batch of the data
continuously available. package. The second batch will be delivered on completion
of the results analysis from the thermal/vacuum test.
Swarm-based science has therefore entered a ‘golden
age’ in terms of new discoveries and applications. With all
platforms performing essentially free of any anomalies, →→EARTHCARE
suffering no life-limiting issues and the space segment
constellation geometry evolving in line with expectations, The Base Platform Integrated System Tests are continuing
the mission is on track to serve the Earth sciences from at Airbus Defence & Space (DE) in Friedrichshafen. The
the core to the magnetosphere for many years to come, ATLID PFM optical receiver integration with the Stable
programmatic concerns aside. Structure was completed and mechanical testing concluded.
Optical characterisation of the full receiver chain and
PFM Transmitter coupling with the instrument EM are
→→AEOLUS continuing.
The mechanical qualification and verification of the satellite The JAXA Cloud Profiling Radar PFM instrument, in its non-
and its compatibility for a launch on Vega were confirmed. redundant configuration, was shipped at the end of March
52 www.esa.int
→ in progress
and handed over to Airbus Defence & Space (DE) in mid- End equipment for the microwave radiometers (Microwave
June. The instrument electrical and mechanical integration Sounder, Microwave Imager and Ice Cloud Imager).
with the platform was then performed and preliminary The schedule is being driven by the availability of the
testing initiated. The instrument will be shipped back to instruments and, in particular, the complex Customer
Japan for refurbishment, starting in April 2018 when the Furnished Item instruments (METimage, IASI-NG and
repaired transmitter (HPT-A) will be made available. Sentinel-5). The current launch dates are September 2021 for
the first Satellite A and December 2022 for the first Satellite B.
The Ground Segment CDR was concluded in June. The first
SVT between the Flight Operation Segment and the satellite
test bench took place at Airbus Defence & Space (DE). →→COPERNICUS
Sentinel-1
→→BIOMASS Sentinel-1A and -1B remain stable. The data downlink is
routinely performed over Matera, Svalbard and Maspalomas
After just over a year of the development contract, the stations and circulated within the Payload Data Ground
PDR began. The build-up of the industrial consortium is Segment to systematically process to Level-0 and Level-1
progressing. Providers for all instrument units and most products and archive. The use of the EDRS-A service by
of the critical platform items have been selected and Sentinel-1A and -1B is now part of routine operations,
negotiations are taking place to start work. increasing the overall mission capacity substantially.
Development of the Sentinel-1C and -1D models is ongoing

→→METEOSAT THIRD GENERATION with the Spacecraft Production Review Board in September.
Carrying a new Automatic Identification System payload to
The CDR continued as planned with the closure of lower augment maritime applications and a new GNSS receiver,
level reviews before the platform CDR later in the year. also compatible with the Galileo navigation system,
Development models are progressing, in particular the Sentinel-1C and -1D will eventually replace the operational
Platform STM and SM test campaigns were completed. Sentinel-1A and -1B at the end of their lives.
For the Flexible Combined Imager and Infrared Sounder Sentinel-2

instruments, the STM and EM development model Sentinel-2B Commissioning Phase activities were
manufacturing is progressing and the highly complex and executed according to plans and concluded with the In
technically challenging Scan Mechanism has completed Orbit Commissioning Review on 15 June. All performance
mechanical and thermal qualification. For the Lightning requirements have been met or exceeded. Sentinel-2C and
Imager, the instrument SM will now be mechanically tested -2D development reached the Satellite Production Review
in August. milestone (the equivalent of a CDR for a quasi-recurrent
satellite).
The schedule for the MTG-I and MTG-S PFM maintains FAR
dates in December 2020 and August 2022 respectively. Sentinel-3
For Sentinel-3B, the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument
FM was assembled, tested and calibrated, with a final
→→METOP delivery to the prime contractor in June. In the meantime,
the satellite underwent the first part of its environmental
MetOp-C acceptance test campaign, including conducted emissions
The environmental testing of the PLM in ESTEC and the and thermal/vacuum testing. Sentinel-3B AIT activities
SVM in Toulouse has been completed and the two modules should be complete in November, ready to start the launch
have been integrated in preparation for the satellite-level campaign at the end of the year. The launch date is still
test campaign. The GOME-2 and Microwave Humidity under discussion with the launch service provider(s), but
Sounder instruments have been removed from the PLM for likely March 2018.
recalibration/repair. Both instruments should be ready in
January 2018 for reintegration on MetOp-C in time for the Most actions from the Sentinel-3C and -3D Satellite
SVT. Launch on a Soyuz is planned for October 2018. Production Review have been closed and manufacturing
of the various units has started. While hardware-related
MetOp Second Generation activities are mainly proceeding at subcontractor level,
The satellite and instrument development activities have prime contractor activities are concentrating on the update
progressed on schedule. Technically, the focus remains on of the central software that will undergo a major review in
the technologically challenging Receiver Front-End and Back- the autumn.

programmes
Sentinel-3B being
placed in the
thermal/vacuum
chamber in Cannes,
France (Thales
Alenia Space)
Sentinel-4 Sentinel-5 Precursor

All pending actions from the CDR have been closed. The The satellite is being prepared for de-storage at Airbus
instrument EM integration has started. The qualification Defence & Space, Stevenage, UK, in readiness for launch
testing of the three Sentinel-4 mechanisms (Calibration on 13 October. The overall Ground Segment is ready. LEOP
Assembly mechanism, Aperture Cover mechanism and rehearsals at ESOC are about to start.
Scanner mechanism) is continuing.
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS
Sentinel-5 The satellite CDR took place, enabling the project to move
All subsystem Equipment Requirement Reviews have been into the production Phase-D. Most flight hardware is
closed. All but one subsystem PDR has taken place. The first being manufactured and satellite integration will start
subsystem CDRs started. An ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared in September. Joint activities with the NASA, NOAA and
focal plane EM assembly has been manufactured and is Eumetsat partners are proceeding. Working groups have
undergoing environmental testing. been formed to address the system engineering and mission
54 www.esa.int
→ in progress
Artist impression of
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS
(ESA/ATG medialab)
performance aspects. The independent Mission Advisory Module with the Repeater Module to constitute the EDRS-C
Group advising the project partners on scientific issues spacecraft was completed in December 2016. The Initial
specific to the Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission had its first Functional Test – a series of functional and performance
meeting in June. tests at satellite level – is being conducted at the satellite
integration facilities at OHB in Bremen.
→→EDRS The full suite of ground stations in Weilheim, Redu and

Harwell has been fully deployed to support the provision
Provision of the commercial EDRS service via EDRS-A started of the commercial EDRS service through EDRS-A. Up to 14
on 23 November 2016 with Sentinel-1A. Since April, EDRS regular link sessions per day for each of the Sentinel-1A and
services have also been provided to Sentinel-1B, while both -1B satellites are prepared and conducted from the EDRS
the Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B satellites are undergoing Mission Operations Centre in Ottobrunn. Development of an
their user commissioning into the EDRS service in the second additional data reception station in Matera began in July.
half of this year.
The GlobeNet programme will extend the coverage area
The second EDRS node based on a dedicated satellite built by of EDRS by adding a third node – EDRS-D – in the Asia/
OHB – using a SmallGEO type platform – carries the EDRS-C Pacific region to complement EDRS-A and EDRS-C. Phase-B
Payload, which includes a second laser communication activities started with the User Requirements Review over
terminal. It will also carry Avanti’s HYLAS-3 communication the summer and are planned to conclude with the PDR
payload as well as the Next Generation Radiation Monitor towards the end of 2018.
developed by RUAG in Switzerland as ‘hosted payloads’, and
will be launched on an Ariane 5 launcher into geostationary
orbit in late 2017. →→ARIANE 6
The EDRS-C mission CDR will take place at the end of the Following Maturity Gate 6.1, a complementary board took
year and will ensure the consistency of the EDRS-C satellite place on 25 July, concluding on the remaining issues related
with the ground segment, thereby verifying the overall to requirements and management of differences between
performance of the EDRS-C mission. Mating of the Platform the QM and generic configuration.

programmes
Launch of Ariane 5 flight

VA238 in 28 June delivering
two telecom satellites,
Hellas Sat 3–Inmarsat S
and GSAT–17, into their
planned orbits. A new
four-panel fairing was also
validated on this flight
(ESA/CNES/Arianespace)
56 www.esa.int
→ in progress
A first step of the Test Readiness Review for the Vulcain 2.1 →→FUTURE LAUNCHERS
tests on P5 test bench took place in July. A major anomaly on PREPARATORY PROGRAMME
the P5 test bench is under investigation. The first test of the
Vulcain 2.1 engine is planned for October/November. Following the Microlaunchers workshop on 9 May and Work
Plan approval, an open ITT was released in July and industry
For the Launch Base, contracts for the development proposals are expected in September.
of the Ariane 6 mechanical transfer systems and for
communication, optic and video systems have been signed. An authorisation to proceed initiating the Ultra-Low Cost
Engine Demonstrator (Prometheus) activity was signed
Several industrial reviews have taken place: Industrial PDR at the Paris Air Show on 21 June. In parallel, the Tender
for Utilities Control Bench, Mechanical Systems (Cryogenic Evaluation Board was finalised and negotiations are ongoing
arms, MANG LLPM box and cryogenic flexible hoses), with the contract proposal to be submitted to the IPC.
Mechanical Transfer Systems for the Upper Composite
Trailer, and Industrial CDRs for the Mechanical Systems Consultations on Cryogenic Metallic and Composite tank
(Table, mast, and deflector), Conventional and Cryogenic demonstration projects are ongoing in view of the Request
Fluidic Systems and Ground Operational Process Interface for Quotation issue.
on ELA 4 and Ariane 6 Low Current and Safety Systems (e.g.
fire and gas detection, sonorisation, video, automatism, On the FORC SRM Casing Demonstrator, the 6 m long and
access control). On the ELA 4 site in Kourou, the mounting 3.5 m diameter booster was manufactured and transported
of the BAL metallic structure, the concrete pouring of the to the test site at MPA-Stuttgart. The test campaign ended
mobile gantry rolling ways and the ZL4 pit flame activities with the ultimate burst test where the burst pressure
are in progress. reached was 212 bar, corresponding to a uniform flux of
1120N/mm applied on the circumference of the skirt. The
In Launch System Architect (LSA) activities, progress has failure initiation was located on the nozzle dome.
been made on critical interface functions, in particular the
Cryogenic Connection System. A design key point enabled
the system-level specifications to be set. The Ariane 6 →→SPACE RIDER
operational concept was further re-analysed and the
availability of a service road connecting CDL3 and ELA4 Activities are on schedule, including the following
to enable movement of staff, even during safety critical milestones:
transfers of materials on the National Road 1, was identified a) Phase-B1 activities, redirected to account for integration
as critical. A solution was proposed and endorsed by ESA, of Vega-C/AVUM as Orbital Service Module with the SRR
ASL and CNES programme directors. planned in November;
b) Phase-B2/C activities industrial proposal evaluation,
The Manufacturing Readiness Review definition of the P120C with Tender Evaluation Board planned on 22 September,
Inert Loaded Motor took place in May. Activities are on track up to successful completion of system CDR.
on the Thrust Vector Control side. Concerning Step1.b, the
industrial proposal from the launcher prime contractors
was received in July. The evaluation of the proposal is →→HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT
ongoing, the Tender Evaluation Board report is expected by
mid-September. Assessment of the impacts of the strike in On 2 June, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet (FR) and
French Guiana showed no margins for some of the activities Russian commander Oleg Novitsky landed in Kazakhstan
on the BEAP (solid booster test stand) adaptations. in Soyuz MS-03 after six months in space. Thomas was
flown directly to Cologne, for debriefing and tests in EAC
and DLR’s Envihab facility.
→→VEGA-C
Thomas took part in more than 60 experiments during his
Work Orders for the Launcher System and Ground Proximity Proxima mission and set a new record for the number of
Means (activities up to completion) and for Small Spacecraft hours spent on science in a week as part of an Expedition
Mission Service (activities up to Vega Proof-of-Concept and crew. On 28 July, Paolo Nespoli (IT) was launched on
Vega-C CDR) have been signed. A review of the Integrated Soyuz MS-04 with crewmates Russian cosmonaut Sergei
Master Schedule is incorporating slots for the modifications Ryazansky and US astronaut Randy Bresnik. His mission,
of the Ground Proximity Means and Ground Support Means called VITA (Vitality, Innovation, Technology, Ability) is part
in Kourou. In parallel, several activities took place, such of a barter agreement between NASA and ASI involving
as the Intermediate Project Key point, in between Launch ESA astronauts. New sessions of the Skinsuit experiment
System SDR and CDR. were performed on ISS, testing a new countermeasure

programmes
Thomas Pesquet landed in Kazakhstan with Russian commander Oleg Novitsky in Soyuz MS-03 on 2 June after six months in space
garment to counter the adverse effects of weightlessness in the 10-day NASA NEEMO 22 underwater mission at
on physiology. the Aquarius Reef Base in Florida in June. Pedro was
involved in the testing of the ESA Lunar Evacuation System
Astronauts Assembly, which would allow the rescue of incapacitated
Luca Parmitano (IT) participated in a two-day scientific EVA astronauts on the surface of the Moon. Alexander
caving and geological expedition in May in Sicily. One Gerst (DE) was in training for his Horizons mission in 2018.
objective was to collect ideas for a possible evolution Matthias Maurer and Samantha Cristoforetti underwent
of ESA’s CAVES analogue. Pedro Duque (ES) participated intensive Chinese language training.
58 www.esa.int
→ in progress
Luca Parmitano and
geologist Marco
Vattano sampling in
the Cucchiara Cave,
Sicily (ESA/N. Russo)
Liftoff of Paolo
Nespoli’s Vita
mission on 28 July
from Baikonur, in
Kazakhstan

programmes
ESA’s Pedro Duque joined

NEEMO 22, the 22nd NASA
Extreme Environment Mission
Operations mission, in June.
Here ‘splashing down’ with
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren,
planetary scientist Trevor
Gradd and research scientist
Dom D’Agostino (NASA)
NEEMO 22 aquanaut Pedro Duque on board the Aquarius

underwater habitat off the coast of Florida (NASA)
60 www.esa.int
→ in progress
Paolo Nespoli arrives at

the International Space
Station for his Vita
mission (NASA/ESA)

programmes
ESA astronaut Thomas

Pesquet, wearing the
Skinsuit, with Space
Station commander Peggy
Whitson (NASA/ESA)
Thomas Pesquet operating the Grasp experiment with a VR Thomas Pesquet working on the Fluid Shifts Experiment to
headset to test how the brain interprets visual cues without see how eye and brain-pressure changes in weightlessness
gravity (NASA/ESA) (NASA/ESA)
62 www.esa.int
→ in progress
Thomas Pesquet’s EveryWear biometric patch that for recording his temperature and monitor activity levels (NASA/ESA)
Paolo Nespoli
preparing to
photograph the
total solar eclipse
that crossed the
US on 21 August
(NASA/ESA)

programmes
This 1.25-m diameter ‘Supersonic Parachute Experiment Ride on Maxus’, or Supermax, flew piggyback on ESA’s Maxus-9 sounding
rocket on 7 April
→→ACES/ASIM
MicroWave Link hardware and software finalisation is
not proceeding as planned. Additional delays because
of both technical issues and industrial resources caused
the shift of deliveries to 2018, with major impacts on the
ACES system testing. The Space Hydrogen Maser FM is
under testing, and planned to be delivered in November.
Contractual and financial issues are being discussed with
Airbus Defence & Space to establish a way forward.
Because of a failure of the Columbus External Payload
Adapter (CEPA), ASIM had to go through a complete
de-integration from the failed CEPA and has started
integration onto the new one sent by NASA. The ASIM
schedule is still compatible with a handover to NASA at
the end of November, in time for launch on SpaceX CRS-14
(scheduled for early 2018).
→→ISS UTILISATION
Human research
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s mission to the International Different test subjects completed inflight activities for
Space Station next year will be called Horizons (ESA/Steinbeis ESA’s Sarcolab-3 and Space Headaches experiments and
Beratungszentrum/Hochschule Darmstadt) two ESA experiments (EDOS-2 and Immuno-2) with Russian
cooperation. These are respectively studying the effect of
64 www.esa.int
→ in progress
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter aerobraking at Mars (ESA/ATG medialab)
weightlessness on: loss of muscle mass, function and motor project. Monitoring of the radiation environment in
control; headache incidence/characteristics; post re-entry Columbus also continued within the DOSIS-3D and ESA
bone loss and recovery; and integrative immune system Active Dosimeter projects.
mechanisms. Hardwarew was also commissioned on orbit
for the Grip/Grasp neuromuscular control experiments. Non-ISS platforms
The Maxus-9 sounding rocket was launched on 7 April. The
Biology research rocket included four scientific experiments and one reentry
The third and final part of the ESA/NASA Seedling Growth technology demonstrator with a supersonic parachute. All
experiment was performed in the European Microgravity experiments performed flawlessly. A very high scientific and
Cultivation System. The experiment builds on previous technical return is expected. The 66th ESA Parabolic Flight
research, studying the effects of different light/gravity Campaign was performed in May with 11 ESA experiments
parameters on the growth responses of plant seedlings. (seven physical sciences and four life sciences). A 60-day
The Extremophiles experiment was also performed with ‘Cocktail’ bed rest study concluded at MEDES in Toulouse in
sampling sessions to provide more detail on microbial April. Fifteen science proposals were implemented. The
communities inhabiting the ISS, and compared with 60-day bed rest period began on 1 February.
spacecraft clean room microbial communities.
Materials research →→EXPLORATION

Processing of the second batch of experiments in the
Electromagnetic Levitator has started on different alloy ExoMars 2016
samples. All of the experiments are studying different The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) aerobraking operations
aspects of the solidification process in metal alloys, which progressed on schedule and were interrupted as planned
will help to optimise industrial casting processes. on 25 June to prepare for the ‘superior solar conjunction
phase’. Aerobraking operations restart in August. TGO’s
Radiation research two-hour data relay orbit will be achieved in April/June
Seven-month personal astronaut monitoring campaign 2018. The Schiaparelli Inquiry Board report delivered 16
concluded in June within the ESA Active Dosimeter recommendations applicable to the ExoMars 2020 Mission.

programmes
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer at the signing event formalising the ESA/Airbus Defence & Space contract to build a second
European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft in Bremen, Germany, in February (ESA–P. Sebirot)
These recommendations were integrated in an exhaustive integration and test activities on the critical path may
Early Descent and Landing Statement of Work. result in further delay. The critical path is driven by the
high-pressure gas valves delivery from a US supplier but
ExoMars 2020 several other pieces of equipment are just behind them.
Delays of 2–10 months have accumulated on the Rover The functional test model was delivered and accepted in
Pasteur payloads since Ministerial Council 2016 with May by NASA/Lockheed Martin.
respect to Lead Funding Agencies’ commitment. This was
addressed with the relevant Member States on different The procurement and manufacturing of ESM-2 hardware
occasions. The System Rocket Complex PDR was held in was authorised to maintain the schedule, while the
June allowing the consolidation of the spacecraft and qualification of the design is not complete and waivers
combined operations activities plan at Baikonur. are not all processed. This risk is controlled by the project
through risk assessment at each of the equipment
Following the consolidation by Lavochkin and Thales Alenia Manufacturing Readiness Reviews. For ESM-3, studies are
Space Italy of the Descent Module and the Spacecraft ongoing to assess the design upgrades requested by NASA.
Composite AIT activities and because of a longer launch
campaign than initially assumed, Thales and Lavochkin International Berthing Docking Mechanism (IBDM)
were requested to propose an updated schedule that After signature of the ESA/SNC/QinetiQ agreement
preserves 60 working days of contingencies two years on IBDM for Dream Chaser in Colorado Springs (US)
prior to launch. A proposal for a simplified Rover wheel- on 5 April, the IBDM contract with QinetiQ is under
walking mode is expected from Airbus Defence & Space negotiation and the system delta PDR is ongoing with the
UK to improve the overall compliance to the locomotion participation of the potential US users.
requirements on critical terrains.
European contributions to Luna-Resource lander
European Service Module (ESM) The PILOT Phase-B2 began in May. The Interface Emulator
Shipment of ESM-1 to the US is scheduled not earlier than model of PILOT-D (Camera Demonstrator as payload on
March 2018 with a risk of further delays mainly because board Luna-Glob) was received by IKI at the beginning
of delayed supplier deliveries. There are no margins in of June. The overall PILOT-D schedule remains very
the ESM schedule so any problems in manufacturing, critical. The Interface Unit EM (also called CDIU) cannot
66 www.esa.int
→ in progress
be delivered by mid-August as requested by IKI, but is aviation, spacecraft operation and power systems operation
expected in October. domains. Two user workshops focusing on satellite operations
were organised in June at ESOC and at Inmarsat in London.
The PROSPECT Phase-B2 began in April. An avionics
optimisation exercise was conducted, leading to the The implementation of the two hosted payload missions,
standardisation of certain interfaces between the drill and Next Generation Radiation Monitor (NGRM) on board
the instrument. Phase-C/D is being prepared with Leonardo EDRS-C and Service Oriented Spacecraft Magnetometer
and the Open University, with a programmatic and planning (SOSMAG) on board GEO-KOMPSAT-2A, continued. NGRM
review conducted on 30 June. has already been integrated on EDRS-C. SOSMAG FM
delivery is expected in July. Preparation for a dedicated space
During a management meeting in April, Roscosmos weather mission to the L5 point is also progressing with the
confirmed the launch date of Luna-Glob as end of 2019 release of the ITTs for the Phase-A/B1 mission studies and
and announced that the launch date of the Luna-Resource the instrument pre-development studies in June.
Lander was shifted by one year to the end of 2022. This
allows for a realistic Phase-C/D1 of PILOT and PROSPECT of Near Earth Objects (NEO)
three years until FM acceptance in Europe. In May, the biannual IAA Planetary Defense Conference
was held in Tokyo, Japan. ESA participated actively in the
Exploration Preparation, Research and Technology (Ex- preparation, and took the opportunity to present its work
PeRT) to the community. A simulated asteroid impact threat
An AO for co-funded studies on user-driven research scenario took place, which involved not only the conference
platforms in low Earth orbit was released on 2 June and is participants but also external players. Representatives
available for interested parties to submit outline proposals. of the German and Swiss emergency response agencies
were involved.
In April, MELiSSA activities for the period 2017–19 were
defined and the contractual process has been initiated. The Space Surveillance & Tracking (SST)
ArtEMISS hardware is ready for launch on 1 December. Procurement of Period 3 activities started. Activity for
establishment of an expert centre for federated laser and
Commercial partnerships optical systems is finishing with deployment at ESOC and
This first ‘ICE Cubes’ partnership agreement was approved in the completion of sensor evaluation of optical systems.
May, followed by a signature at the Paris Le Bourget air show Data acquired from the test campaigns with the two test-
in 20 June. The first applications were approved using the bed radars have been processed. Integration, testing and
new ‘Procedure for the Evaluation of Commercial Activities’. validation of the data processing, planning, scheduling,
Technical and business reviews for ‘Bartolomeo’ will be catalogue querying, and event detection software is
completed in the coming months, followed by an expert progressing. International standardisation activities are
independent assessment, an ESA independent assessment continuing within CCSDS and the CEN/CENELEC.
and subsequent Integrated Project Review.
Data Centres and Data Systems
Studies are being conducted of a hybrid architecture
→→SPACE SITUATIONAL combining on-premises and owned hardware resources with
AWARENESS (SSA) additional non-proprietary resources. This would give SSA
Data Centres the flexibility to easily and quickly adapt to
Space Weather (SWE) the increasing demands of system resilience, backup, data
SWE services to the end users have been enhanced by management capacity and capability, and long-term data
deployment of new services from the Expert Service Centre preservation, as well as the possibility to scale up and scale
network in May. The SWE Service Portal now provides access back the infrastructure along segments’ needs.
to 21 space weather services in preliminary configuration.
In April, the SSA programme, along with the Expert Rationalisation of processes for managing, operating
Service Centres and the SSA SWE Coordination Centre and maintaining the SSA hardware and software
(SSCC), organised the first exercise to practise coordinated infrastructures has been ongoing since early 2017 with
communications protocol for a situation when a major space the objective of aligning with a modern continuous
weather event is in progress. integration and delivery solution. This transition started
with configuration management and software lifecycle
The objective of the exercises is to ensure that the end management, but the same approach will be adopted in
users of the ESA SSA SWE system will receive objective and other key Data Systems and Data Centres management
reliable information throughout the event. In parallel, the areas (for example, assets, testing, intellectual property
SSCC carried out service test campaigns with end users from rights and security management).

→ ESA PUBLICATIONS
Brochures Sentinel-3: A Bigger Picture for Copernicus (October 2015)
BR-326 // 8 pp
Sentinel-5P: Global Air Monitoring for Copernicus (June 2017) E-book online
BR-337 // 8 pp
E-book online Sentinel-2: Colour Vision for Copernicus (June 2015)
BR-325 // 8 pp
Space Debris: The ESA Approach (March 2017) E-book online
BR-336 // 12 pp
E-book online Our Future in the Space Age (August 2015)
BR-324 // 64 pp
BepiColombo: Investigating Mercury's Mysteries (May 2017) E-book online
BR-335 // 12 pp
E-book online LISA Pathfinder: First Steps to Observing Gravitational Waves from
Space (September 2015)
SmallGEO: Small Geostationary Platform (December 2016) BR-323 // 12 pp
BR-334 // 6 pp E-book online
E-book online
EDRS: The European Data Relay System (May 2015)
CleanSat: Technology Building Blocks to Secure our Future in Space BR-322 EN/DE // 8 pp
(December 2016) E-book online
BR-333 // 12 pp
E-book online Sentinel-1: Radar Vision for Copernicus (April 2016)
BR-313 (2nd ed.) // 8 pp
SMOS: From Science to Applications (November 2016) E-book online
BR-332 // 16 pp
E-book online Special Publications
ESA: Powering European Growth (November 2016) Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, 2015–16 Report (August 2017)
BR-331 // 10 pp SP-1335 // 76 pp
E-book online E-book online
Clean Space: Safeguarding Earth and Space (May 2016) Sentinel-4: ESA's Geostationary Atmospheric Mission for Copernicus
BR-330 // 8 pp Operational Services (April 2017)
E-book online SP-1334 // 88 pp
Price: €20
The Challenge of Space Debris (April 2016)
BR-329 // 12 pp ESA's Report to the 41st COSPAR Meeting (June 2016)
E-book online SP-1333 // 236 pp
Price: €30
SOHO: Two Decades of Observing the Sun (November 2015)
BR-328 // 8 pp Conference Proceedings
E-book online
Proc. Living Planet Symposium, 9–13 May 2016, Prague, Czech Rep.
ExoMars: Europe's New Era of Mars Exploration (November 2015) (August 2016)
BR-327 // 12 pp SP-740 // CD
E-book online Price: €60
→ HOW TO ORDER
Selected ESA publications and conference proceedings can be ordered online at www.spacebooks-online.com
ESA brochures* (BR-xxx) available as ‘e-books’, online only
Periodicals and selected monographs also available for download at no charge at: www.esa.int/publications
ESA Bulletin subscriptions online at www.spacebooks-online.com ESRIN Communication Office,

Annual Report requests contact esapub@esa.int or write to Casella Postale 64, 00044 Frascati, Italy
Public relations material (General ESA literature, posters, ESA Communication Department
photographs, films, etc.) 8–10 rue Mario Nikis, F-75738 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel: +33 1 53 69 71 55 Fax: +33 1 53 69 76 90
* under special conditions (e.g. for educational purposes) and on ESA approval, ESA brochures (BR-xxx) can be ordered as hard copies. Please contact us for these
requests at esapub@esa.int or write to ESRIN Communication Office, Casella Postale 64, 00044 Frascati, Italy
68 www.esa.int
ESA Member States
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number 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

ESAC, Madrid, Spain.

The Agency is directed by a Council composed of representatives of the Member

number 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

ESTEC, PO Box 299

Assistant Editor THE SPACE CHOREOGRAPHERS

THE EVOLUTION OF ESEC

Copyright © 2017 PROGRAMMES IN PROGRESS → 38

ESOC’s Main Control Room

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 3

↑ The ESOC Main Control Room during a VIP visit in 1972

ESOC maintains real-time contact with missions and

↓ ESOC gatehouse, 1967

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 5

↑ Siemens 330 computer used to support LEOP activities from 1976

Young ESOC engineers of today cannot imagine that

Sure, we knew one day we would be able to do a mission

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 7

Aerial view of ESOC in 2008

No one had come so close to a comet yet

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 9

By the mid-1980s, ESOC was already controlling the comet

“And we even overtook the Americans with Rosetta,” said

“That was a great mission and adventure,” recalls Ferri, who

The approximately seven billion-kilometre journey to

While we control spacecraft millions of kilometres

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 11

Cindy Leonard and Sabrina Guillaume

Member State flags at ESEC,

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 13

Since 1968, the postcard village of Redu in the

Just short of its 50th anniversary, ESA’s base in Belgium will

Between 2014 and 2017, ESA began some promising new

The roots of Redu

Belgium was already one of the most active states

In 1963, ESRO decided to establish the European Space

The ECS satellite

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 15

The custom-designed L-band 20 m

The ESA Academy

In close partnership with Member States, and

• classroom resources tailored to the curricula taught by

Education is vital. As a mandatory activity in the

One centre, two sites

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 19

Meteosat-1 being prepared for

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017 21

In Europe, Earth observation satellites had begun with

Data from polar-orbiting satellites combined with

→ EUROPEAN EARTH OBSERVATION MISSIONS

LAUNCH 1977 1981 1988 1989 1991 1991

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

→ Meteosat vital statistics

2006 2009 2009 2010 2012 2012 2013

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

The new geostationary ESA missions needed a new and

2017 2017 2018 2018 2018 2020 2020

↑ Meteosat-1, launched in 1977, was Europe’s first meteorological satellite

European Space Agency | Bulletin 171 | 3rd quarter 2017

↑ One of the polaroids saved by ZDF showing original