ESA Education

16/10/2026

🌍 Earth Observation Satellite Systems Design Training 2026 completed! ✨

🎓 From 28 September to 9 October, ESA welcomed 30 university students from ESA Member States, Canada and African countries for an intensive two-week training course organised with the African Space Agency.

📍 During the first week at ESA ESEC-Galaxia in Belgium, participants attended lectures from ESA experts and retirees, exploring the engineering challenges behind Earth observation satellite missions.

💻 In the second week, the students worked online in five multidisciplinary teams on a satellite system design project inspired by Sentinel-3 Next Generation.

📡 Working as system, payload, satellite and ground segment engineers, they developed and presented an end-to-end mission design covering technical requirements, performance, system budgets and operational concepts.

🛰️ The course concluded with five group presentations showcasing the students’ engineering work, collaboration and problem-solving skills.

A huge thank you to all the trainers, organisers and students for their dedication, enthusiasm and contributions throughout the two weeks! 👏

13/10/2026

Rocket, drone, balloon or a tower: how would can students launch their own satellite? 🤔

✨ Throughout the years, ESERO has helped students across Europe experience first-hand space engineering with projects like CanSat - the satellite that fits the size of a soda can 😊

🛰️ CanSat means designing an experiment, building a satellite and parachute, choosing sensors, collecting and analysing data, then sharing findings with experts and peers. With CanSat, students turn ideas into action — building teamwork, creativity and STEM skills every step of the way! 🚀

🚀 Most CanSats are launched on small rockets – this is the case for ESERO Portugal, ESERO Austria, ESERO Belgium, ESERO Finland, ESERO France, ESERO Norway, ESERO NL, ESERO Germany and ESERO UK.

🤩 But some ESEROs have found creative alternatives to take their CanSats skyward 😊

✈️ In 2025, ESERO Česká republika used ultralight aircraft and paragliders.

📺 That same year, ESERO Eesti dropped CanSats from a TV tower in the centre of Tallinn and, the year after, it used a combination of drones and paragliders.

🪂 Guess what is a very important part of a CanSat mission? Its parachute! The parachute must ensure a safe landing, but not only…

🧶 A CanSat Spain team decorated their parachute with traditional embroidery from their hometown, bringing engineering and local heritage hand in hand.

🚀 No matter how you launch it, what it does or what it looks like—CanSat means a small satellite, big learning and loads of fun!

13/10/2026

🚀 SCAMPI has launched! 🦐

Would you like to learn more about the launch of the SCAMPI payload and the journey that led to this milestone?

Read the article to discover the launch campaign, the activities at Kennedy Space Centre, and the successful lift-off of the student-built experiment to the International Space Station.

🔗 https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy_Experiments_programme/Student-built_SCAMPI_experiment_launches_to_the_International_Space_Station

13/10/2026

🚨 Launch stream starting soon! 🚀

🦐 The SCAMPI experiment is launching to the ISS today, following years of dedication and hard work by university students, supported by the ESA Academy Experiments Programme. The students designed, built, tested and prepared the payload for flight.

SCAMPI will investigate the behaviour of a closed aquatic ecosystem in microgravity, contributing to research on biological systems that could support future long-duration space exploration missions.

From the initial concept and design reviews to campaign activities at Kennedy Space Centre and launch, the students have been involved throughout the entire process.

Congratulations to the team on reaching this important milestone, and best wishes for a successful mission aboard the ISS! 👏👏

Watch the launch here: https://www.youtube.com/live/_gdbS1AAkq0

📷 : NASA

13/10/2026

✨ ESA - European Space Agency is joining forces with the Agência Espacial Portuguesa to support the next generation of European space professionals.

🚀 Through a bilateral agreement with the Portuguese Space Agency, ESA is providing financial support to the EuRoC rocketry challenge, building on the technical expertise it has contributed in previous editions.

🎓 During the seventh edition of EuRoC, from 15 to 21 October, around 600 students from 25 teams will gather in Portugal to launch their own rockets to altitudes of up to 9 km, putting their technical knowledge, creativity and teamwork into practice.

🌍 The partnership marks the first step under ESA’s New University Initiative. Approved at ESA’s last Council at ministerial level and now being further developed, the initiative aims to bring academia and the space sector closer together, encouraging a continuous exchange of knowledge, skills and experience between European academic programmes and professional practice.

🔗 https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy/Portugal_s_EuRoC_rocketry_challenge_flies_higher_with_ESA

📸: Portuguese Space Agency

12/10/2026

🦐 The refurbishment activities of the SCAMPI flight payload have now been completed after a week at Kennedy Space Centre, and the experiment is ready to proceed with integration activities ahead of launch. 🚀

The work included preparing and refreshing the sealed aquatic ecosystem, performing final inspections of the aquaria, verifying the health of the biological system, and ensuring the payload is in its nominal configuration for flight.

Designed, built and tested by university students through the ESA Academy Experiments Programme, SCAMPI will study the behavior of a closed aquatic ecosystem in the unique environment of space, helping improve our understanding of biological systems that could support future long-duration exploration missions.

With the payload now in NASA's hands for launch vehicle integration, the team is one step closer to seeing their experiment launched to the International Space Station. 🌍 🛰️

📸 : NASA, SCAMPI team

09/10/2026

The countdown to launch has begun! 🚀 🦐

The student team of SCAMPI experiments has arrived at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, marking the start of the final activities before their experiment's journey to the International Space Station.

Developed through the ESA Academy Experiments Programme, SCAMPI is a student-led mission designed to investigate how a sealed aquatic ecosystem responds to the space environment. Over the coming days, the team will carry out final preparations, refurbish their payload and assist at the integration activities ahead of launch.

After years of design, development and testing, the project has reached one of its most important milestones.

07/10/2026

What does it take to keep space safe and sustainable? 🛰️

🎓 30 Master’s and PhD students representing 15 nationalities came together at ESA ESEC-Galaxia, Belgium, for the 8th ESA Academy Space Debris Training Course between 21 and 25 September.

🌍 Through expert lectures, real-life case studies and hands-on group work, students explored space debris and its effects on spacecraft operations, as well as debris mitigation, ESA’s Zero Debris approach and future ways to make space more sustainable.

🚀 After an intensive week, participants left with new knowledge and practical skills to help shape a more sustainable future in space.

👏 A huge thank you to all the students and experts who took part!

06/10/2026

✨ A big congratulations to all the talented young artists who took part in the Cosmic Art Contest on Eclipses! 🌞 🌑


👽 Join Paxi in celebrating their fantastic imagination and creativity! 👏 🎨

🚀 Hey creative friends, Paxi here! 👋 👽

🌞 🌑 Have you seen the incredible artworks from the eclipse-themed Cosmic Art Contest?

✨ After witnessing the amazing solar eclipse on 12 August 2026, I asked my brilliant space friends to show me their own eclipse adventures through art. And wow, did they deliver!

🎨 From colourful eclipse scenes to imaginative space journeys, these talented young artists captured the magic of eclipses in so many creative ways. Their artworks reminded me just how exciting it is to explore the Universe together!

🤩 Ready to meet some of the star explorers behind the artworks? Check out all the winning artworks below! 👇

https://www.esa.int/kids/en/things_to_do/Space_Gallery_Competition/Winners_Gallery/Eclipse_champions

06/10/2026

📡 What happens when a spacecraft stops communicating as expected? 🛰

🎓 Join the ESA Academy Spacecraft Communications Training Course and explore how engineers communicate with spacecraft during real missions.

🗓️ 1–5 February 2027
📍 ESA ESEC, Belgium

Through lectures, real operational cases and hands-on exercises, you will:

🔹 explore how spacecraft communication systems work, both on board and on the ground
🔹 design a communication system for a specific mission
🔹 simulate spacecraft operations and communications
🔹 tackle anomalies inspired by real-life situations and investigate what went wrong – and what can be done
🔹 discover activities at ESA ESEC, including Galileo and PROBA spacecraft operations

🚀 Ready to explore the communications behind space missions? Find out more and apply here:
🔗 https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy/Apply_for_the_Ladybird_Guide_to_Spacecraft_Communications_2027