on my webpage! I am an experienced spacecraft analyst at the European Space Operations Centre via Telespazio Germany GmbH. Currently, I am the analyst for the X-ray astronomy mission XMM-Newton, but have worked as an analyst for almost all Earth Explorer spacecrafts previously. In the past I have worked as an astrophysicist studing accreting neutron stars and cosmological neutrino sources. For more details please have a look at the “About me” menu.
ESA Space Science News
Smile set to launch on 19 May
23/04/2026
The European-Chinese Smile mission is due to launch on Tuesday 19 May 2026, at 05:52 CEST / 04:52 BST / 00:52 local time on a European Vega-C rocket.
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Plato aces space-like tests
23/04/2026
The European Space Agency Plato mission has successfully completed a series of tough tests under space‑like conditions. With this accomplishment, the spacecraft is on track to lift off in early 2027 and begin its search for terrestrial planets.
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Euclid Space Warps: help spot galaxies bending spacetime
21/04/2026
Hubble turns 36 with a dazzling Trifid Nebula portrait
20/04/2026
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope looked at a scene it first captured in 1997 in honour of 36th anniversary: a small portion of a star-forming region about 5000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, known as the Trifid Nebula. The image shows changes over incredibly short timescales and instills a sense of awe and wonder about our ever-changing Universe.
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Ash creeps across Mars
15/04/2026
Noticeable change on Mars often takes millions of years – but the European Space Agency’s Mars Express has captured a blanket of dark ash creeping across the planet in just decades.
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A pair of planet-forming discs
03/04/2026
This month’s NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month offers us a two-for-one on brand new stars – with some potential planets thrown in as well!
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Smile: A global answer to a global mystery
02/04/2026
The European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are joining hands to uncover how Earth defends itself against dangerous particles and radiation from the Sun.
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Last glimpse of Smile
30/03/2026
Like a caterpillar inside a cocoon, the Smile spacecraft was enclosed inside a Vega-C rocket fairing on 26 March 2026, in preparation for liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 9 April.
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Smile meets Vega-C
30/03/2026
The Smile spacecraft (gold) was fixed to a Vega-C rocket adaptor (black cone) on 25 March 2026, in preparation for liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 9 April.
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What is Smile about to discover?
30/03/2026
What really happens when the Sun’s charged particles slam into Earth’s magnetic shield?
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Where spiral arms and star formation meet
27/03/2026
Hubble image of barred spiral galaxy IC 486
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Smile pre-launch media briefing
26/03/2026
Watch the replay of the Smile pre-launch media briefing.
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Smile fuelled for launch
24/03/2026
On 20 March, specialists filled the European-Chinese Smile mission with fuel ahead of its launch on a Vega-C rocket on 9 April.
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The journey of Juice
11/12/2025
Plato passes vibe check
15/01/2026
Plato, the European Space Agency’s mission to discover Earth-like exoplanets, successfully passed a first round of tests designed to ensure that the spacecraft is fit for launch.
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