ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano touched down in the Kazakh Steppe at 09:12 GMT (10:12 CET), 6 February 2020 after his second six-month mission on the International Space Station.

The new Mars Year starts on 7 February. 

ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission lifted off on an Atlas V 411 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 05:03 CET on 10 February on its mission to study the Sun from new perspectives.

For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for new astronauts to work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration.

Follow live on as the upcoming astronaut selection campaign is presented to the media in the following languages (all times CET): 

English: 13:00–14:00
French: 13:00–14:00
German: 14:30–15:30
Dutch: 14:30–15:30
Italian: 15:30–16:30
Spanish: 15:30–16:30 

The public event will also be livestreamed on ESA Web TV (Channels One and Two).