Latest CNES Stories

ESA Tucked away in a vacuum chamber for several months, Europe’s largest telecom satellite has faced the harsh conditions it will deal with once it is launched into space this summer. Testing at Intespace in Toulouse, France, simulated conditions close to those Alphasat will experience in flight, including the intense cold of its transfer orbits in the early stages of the mission. Not only was Alphasat’s ability to control its temperature tested, but other features were also put...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online A Soyuz rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite has lifted off from a spaceport in French Guiana, officials from the Russian national space agency (Roscosmos) announced on Sunday. According to RIA Novosti reports, the Russian Soyuz ST-a carrier rocket and its payload, the multi-purpose European observation satellite Pleiades 1B, lifted off at 6:03 Moscow time on Sunday. The launch had been scheduled for Saturday morning,...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The European Space Agency (ESA) announced a new launch date for its latest edition to its polar-orbiting satellite group, Metop. The new launch date is set for Metop-B satellite on September 19, 2012, when it will be lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ESA said the satellite is being stored in a controlled environment in the Starsem facilities in Baikonur, and it will be subject to a set of tests and activities before its...

If you’ve been to see Wrath of the Titans, then you’ve watched it in action. A computer programmer is using software he developed to control spacecraft to help animators make more realistic computer games and movies. Originally designed to help guide satellites, the software now helps computers to render human movements smoothly and realistically. It turns out that movements controlled effortlessly by our brains – picking up a cup, touching our toes or doing a little dance –...

Lee Rannals for RedOrbit.com The European Space Agency (ESA) lost contact with its flagship Earth observing satellite almost two weeks ago, but the space agency hasn't skipped a beat in trying to make contact with Envisat. The recovery team at ESA is using every source available to try and determine if Envisat has entered its "safe mode."  This mode sees that the satellite placed its solar panels in a position so that it can draw power from the Sun. ESA said on Friday that valuable...

Ground controllers from the European Space Agency (ESA) are still trying to make contact with the space agency's flagship Earth observation mission, Envisat. Radar pictures taken from the ground appear to show that the satellite is intact, but there is no confirmation that Envisat has entered the "safe mode" of an ailing spacecraft. During this mode, the spacecraft ensures the solar panel is pointed at the Sun and that onboard power systems are prioritized above all other activity....

European companies and research organizations have created a partnership to turn a wealth of data from various Earth sciences into useful and easily accessible information. The initiative is being tested using ESA’s earthquake and volcano research. The initiative is called Helix Nebula – the Science Cloud, named after the large planetary nebula sometimes referred to as the ‘Eye of God’. This partnership is working to establish a sustainable European cloud computing...

In a city where sea level is of particular significance, a scientific conference on the radar that records sea-surface height will be held in September. The deadline for abstract submissions for the symposium in Venice, Italy, on two decades of radar altimetry is fast approaching. The ‘20 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry’ Symposium will be held at the Venice Convention Centre Palazzo del Casinó from 24 to 29 September 2012. Organized in collaboration with the French space...

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off this weekend from French Guiana’s Sinamary spaceport, only the second time a Soyuz rocket has ever lifted off from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) new launch facility in South America. The rocket carried six low-orbit military-industrial satellites into space, including France’s Pleiades 1 satellite, designed to generate 3D and color images for both military and industrial use. The satellite has been designed to take pictures on the ground as small...

[ Watch the Video ] Images of some of our planet’s most beautiful features can be seen from the comfort of your Air France aircraft thanks to satellites. Clouds can’t obstruct these views: the crystal waters of the Andaman Islands while en route to Singapore, the snaking Senegal River after taking off from Dakar and the rolling dunes of the Gobi Desert before landing in Beijing. Satellite photos of the landscape below the aircraft are now accessible by passengers on dozens of Air...