ESA celebrates team excellence
For every success, every new milestone and every breakthrough at the European Space Agency, there is a team of people whose collaboration, innovation and dedication made them possible. Each year, ESA colleagues nominate the teams whose achievements have inspired them the most for the ESA Team Awards, which bring exceptional team achievements the recognition and celebration they deserve. Meet the winners of the 2025 ESA Team Awards and hear the stories of their success!
Established in 2010, the ESA Team Awards highlight the importance of teamwork, a core part of everything we do at ESA. Each year, one team is awarded the ESA Team Achievement Award and up to four teams are presented with the Teamwork Excellence Award. The former recognises a team’s major achievements that promote the success and public reputation of ESA and have involved multiple directorates, while the latter recognises outstanding internal teamwork.
ESA Team Achievement Award 2025
Biomass Team
ESA’s forest mission Biomass launched in 2025 with the ambitious goal of increasing our understanding of the state of our forests, how they are changing and their role in the carbon cycle. Carrying the first P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ever flown in space, it is one of ESA’s most innovative missions. With its ability to penetrate forest canopies and operate in interferometric and tomographic modes, it offers a completely new view of Earth’s surface.
The mission’s main goal is to measure global above‑ground forest biomass and track its annual changes with high accuracy, providing unique insights into forest structures and their role in Earth’s environmental balance. Additional objectives include mapping subsurface geology in arid areas, tomographic imaging of dense vegetation and measuring glacier and ice‑sheet velocities. Early commissioning results confirm excellent performance, and with all system requirements met, Phase E2 data was released earlier than planned and is now available to the scientific community.
An award ceremony for the Biomass Team hosted by ESA’s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, will be held to celebrate this achievement.
Reflecting on the recognition, Philip Willemsen, Biomass Deputy Project Manager, shared: “We are honoured and grateful to receive the ESA Team Achievement Award. It recognises the work of the team and the dedication required to deliver a technologically complex and pioneering space mission.
We faced several challenges during the mission starting with developing a first‑of‑its‑kind P‑band SAR technology, including a high‑power RF chain exposed to multipaction and discharge risks, without prior heritage. The Large Deployable Reflector, Biomass’s most visible feature and a critical single‑point failure, was also a key challenge. Because of its size, it required a full end‑to‑end validation and calibration that was only possible in orbit. Overcoming these challenges required pragmatic collaboration, mutual trust and continuous exchange across ESA teams, industry and the scientific community.
Of course, one big highlight for us was seeing Biomass transition into operations and deliver its first results, from the successful reflector deployment to the first images captured during commissioning. In that moment, years of engineering effort became reality, demonstrating both the system’s performance and its scientific potential.
Receiving this award is also a recognition of the collaboration across ESA directorates, industrial partners and the scientific community that enabled us to overcome challenges and deliver a unique space mission like Biomass.”
Teamwork Excellence Award 2025
EarthCARE Mission Team
The Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, developed jointly by ESA and JAXA, addresses major uncertainties in climate models by observing how clouds and aerosols interact and influence solar and thermal radiation. Its unique set of four instruments is providing a holistic view of the interplay between clouds, aerosols and radiation.
EarthCARE is ESA’s largest and most complex Earth Explorer mission with an estimated mission lifetime of 10 years. After the launch, which took place in May 2024, the team successfully led the release of all Level 1 and Level 2 scientific data products to the public by December 2025. The EarthCARE Mission Team delivered outstanding results thanks to strong collaboration and teamwork across ESA sites, European industry and JAXA.
Europe’s first deep space optical communication demonstration team
The team behind this initiative led a groundbreaking achievement: Europe’s first deep space optical communication link, in which laser data was successfully received at ESA’s Optical Ground Station from a spacecraft over 300 million kilometres away. These results mark a significant technological leap that enable next‑generation systems for future science and exploration missions and place ESA at the forefront of advanced space communications. This success was made possible through close collaboration across multiple directorates, led by the Directorate of Operations and supported by the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality.
Gravity Assist Core Team
Gravity Assist is ESA’s internal incubator, supporting colleagues in developing innovations and new space‑related ventures. The Gravity Assist Core Team brought together more than 100 colleagues across all directorates, seven sites and at multiple career stages, creating a truly agency‑wide initiative. They secured funding, established the legal and financial framework, selected ideas and participants, organised workshops, coordinated the jury and selection process, managed reviews and provided continuous support. Their efforts made the programme professional, scalable and ready to become a robust annual ESA initiative with lasting value.
Luna Analog Facility Team
The LUNA Analog Facility project, managed by ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), was created to provide a state-of-the-art environment simulating lunar surface conditions for research, training, equipment testing and technology development for future Moon missions. Building such an unprecedented facility required specialised expertise, innovative thinking and continuous learning, as well as adapting to evolving requirements. The LUNA Analog Facility Team’s diverse expertise, strong collaboration and dedication has led to the successful inauguration of the facility and the execution of over 30 campaigns since its opening in September 2024.
Inspired to join us aboard?
Everyone involved in these teams – just like everyone at ESA – was spurred to success by their passion for space and their belief in our mission: the peaceful exploration of space for the benefit of everyone on Earth. If this resonates with you, why not consider joining us aboard? Read about who we are looking for, what we offer and what life at ESA is like.
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