ESA Impact 2026 - January-March
Welcome to ESA Impact, your interactive gateway to the most captivating stories and stunning visuals from the European Space Agency, now in a mobile-friendly format. Just scroll down through it to see – and read about – our selection!
The first quarter of 2026 was when ESA powered up, with the first launch of the four-booster configuration of Europe’s Ariane 6 launcher, confirming our continent’s readiness in heavy lift launch capability and is key to ESA’s efforts to ensure autonomous access to space for Europeans. Meanwhile Europe’s Copernicus-3 radar satellite watched over flooding in the Bordeaux region of France and ESA Sophie Adenot made her way to the International Space Station. A student team exposed microbes to radiation at ESA’s technical heart in preparation for an innovative CubeSat mission, the James Webb Space Telescope took a detailed look at Uranus and the Smile solar wind mission with China set sail for Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. All this and the latest Playmobil ESA toys as well!
You’ll find more issues of ESA Impact here: ESA Impact