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
ESA observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
02/04/2026
The European Space Agency (ESA) reacted promptly to the discovery of comet 3I/ATLAS on 1 July 2025. Soon after they were alerted to its existence by automated detection systems, ESA astronomers began using ground-based telescopes in Hawaii, Chile, and Australia to monitor its progress.Since then, the comet has been observed by space telescopes close to Earth, including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, XMM-Newton and XRISM. In October and November 2025, ESA turned interplanetary voyagers Mars Express, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) in the direction of the comet to make further observations from excellent vantage points. The data from Juice has recently arrived on Earth and scientists are busy analysing them to see what they reveal.Follow the links below for more information.
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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! This visual highlights Webb's views of the protoplanetary discs Tau 042021 (left) and Oph 163131 (right), otherwise known by the catalogue numbers 2MASS J04202144+2813491 and 2MASS J16313124-2426281, respectively.
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How to follow the Smile launch live
02/04/2026
ESA will be broadcasting live as the European-Chinese Smile mission launches at 07:29 BST/08:29 CEST (03:29 local time) on 9 April 2026.Smile will launch on a European Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.Times subject to change at short notice.
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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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Five things Juice has revealed about Comet 3I/ATLAS
02/04/2026
‘Extreme but not exotic,’ – a glimpse at Comet 3I/ATLAS through the eyes of the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice).
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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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Webb & Hubble capture new views of Saturn
25/03/2026
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have joined forces to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Infrared and visible observations show layers and storms in the ringed planet’s atmosphere.
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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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XRISM solves famous star’s 50-year mystery
24/03/2026
An invisible companion consuming material from the naked-eye star gamma-Cas has been revealed as the culprit for curious X-rays coming from the stellar system. This closes the case on a mystery that has puzzled astronomers for more than fifty years.
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T-20 days: Smile to launch on 9 April
20/03/2026
The Smile mission is set to launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday 9 April at 08:29 CEST/07:29 BST/03:29 local time. Follow along as we communicate on the final preparations for launch. Journalists are invited to join online media briefings in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.
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