Overview

• The Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket completed its maiden flight in February 2025, placing multiple satellites into orbit without issue.
• ESA has opened a dedicated cybersecurity center in Darmstadt to guard its 28 operational satellites against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
• Over 1,600 startups are working with the agency through 30 business incubation hubs to fast-track new space technologies and applications.
• The Copernicus Earth observation program continues to provide free, high-resolution data for environmental monitoring, navigation and disaster response.
• Preparations are underway for a Mars sample return campaign that builds on two decades of Mars Express operations and aims to retrieve surface material in the next decade.