The Ecsite Space Group members met again online on the 18th, 22nd and 23rd June. In the pick moment we were 37 participants around the globe. The participants got the chance to catch up informally, share their projects and hear about the current and upcoming activities of the European Space Agency.

Some highlights from the sessions:

Kai Noeske, Communication Programme Officer at ESA gave an update about the #SpaceCare campaign, which addresses environment, society and economy and opportunities from its different programmes in 2021 and 2022 (Space4Climate, SpaceSafety, ExploreFarther, Space4Economy). Other upcoming ESA’s milestones include new launcher Vega-C Maiden flight (2022), Ariane 6 Maiden flight (2022) and launch of Juice to explore Jupiter’s moons (2022). Still this year, in October/November 2021 there will be a launch of James Webb from Kourou. It is also exciting time for ESA’s astronauts, which started with mission of Thomas Pesquet this year and will be followed by Matthias Maurer in Automn and Smantha Cristoforetti in Spring 2022.

During the project showcase we learned i.e. about the e-learning offer from ESA Education, the new exhibition in Cite de l’espace “Mission Alpha” dedicated to the ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, contribution to STEAM education by the Leiden University, the ULTRASAT, which is a scientific mini-satellite carrying a telescope (presented by Davidson Institute of Science Education in Israel) and the new exhibition in Ciencia Viva on water, looking towards the future and exploring how science and technology, knowledge and imagination are key to tackle current water-related challenges.

The full report is available in the attachment below.