ESSC Showcases Groundbreaking Science in Human and Robotic Exploration October 1st, 2025 The European Space Science Committee (ESSC) has released a landmark brochure, commissioned by
In Memory of Professor Hermann Opgenoorth (1951–2025) Professor Hermann Opgenoorth | Photo Credit: Asa Lord @ SLA.se June 11, 2025 Professor Hermann Opgenoorth1951 – 2025
Open Call: AFP Panel Membership April 1st, 2025 The Astronomy and Fundamental Physics panel (AFP) of the European Space Sciences Committee needs you! The mission
Professor Roberto Battiston Appointed as Next ESSC Chair 26th February 2025 The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) is proud to announce that Professor Roberto Battiston
ESSC Unveils New Brochure: Earth Observation: Groundbreaking Discoveries 21st January 2025 The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) is delighted to announce the release of its
ESSC Chair Delivers Keynote Speech at EISC in Luxembourg September 26, 2024 This week, at the European Interparliamentary Space Conference (EISC) in Luxembourg (22-23 September),
Prof Ravit Helled Awarded the 2024 Paolo Farinella Prize September 10th, 2024 The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) is thrilled to congratulate Prof Ravit Helled,
The ESSC Celebrates 50 Years of Success April 18th, 2024 The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) commemorated its 50th anniversary with a series of events
ESSC AT SPACE SUMMIT 2023 17 November, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kXMenBGiSg&t=4s As the Chair of the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC), Professor Chris Rapley took a commanding
Revolution Space: Europe’s Mission for Space Exploration ESSC Chair Chris Rapley contributes to report as part of the European Space Agency Director General’s High Level
The ESA Science Programme Committee has confirmed on March 7th, the continued operations of Cluster, Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express and XMM-Newton as well as continued
The European Space Agency has just announced the formation of the DG’s High Level Advisory Group on Human and Robotic Space Exploration for Europe.
We congratulate ESSC Chair, Chris Rapley, for being appointed as a member.
We are delighted to announce that Anny Cazenave, ESSC Earth Sciences Panel Chair & Deputy director of the Laboratoire d’Etudes en Geophysique et Oceanographie Spatiale (LEGOS) has received the 2022 Women in Aerospace Europe award.
We are thrilled to announce that ESSC member and University College Dublin Physics Professor, Michael Perryman, has just received the 2022 Shaw Prize in Astronomy in equal shares with Lennart Lindegren, from Lund Observatory, Sweden for their lifetime contributions to space astrometry, and in particular for their role in the conception and design of the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia missions.
The latest IPCC report, which came out Monday, April 4th, 2022, warns that policies in place to reduce emissions as of December 2020 would lead the planet to 3.2 degrees Celsius of warming, more than double the 1.5 degrees limit that is essential for avoiding the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
ESSC Chair and University College London Climate Science Professor, Chris Rapley created 2071 in 2015 along with writer Duncan Macmillan and director Katie Mitchell. This piece of theatre is a 65 minute spellbinding performance, where science is centre stage.
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) condemns the attack on Ukraine, abhors the violence taking place, deplores the human casualties and sacrifices, and implores those in a position to do so to restore peace at the earliest opportunity.
The James Webb Telescope (JWST) is on its way to becoming the first observatory of its kind in deep space. The team has successfully completed the second and third out of seven total phases of mirror alignment. The 18 small mirrors have gone through their initial alignment and focus and can now produce a single image of a star!
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued the second part of its sixth assessment report (AR6) on February 28th, 2022. The report provides significant and unequivocal scientific evidence that climate change impacts are dire and being felt across the globe, from intense and frequent floods to droughts and heatwaves. Human-induced climate change will continue to increase for many more decades until global emissions of greenhouse gases are effectively reduced to zero.
The James Webb Space Telescope—the most powerful and complex cosmic observatory ever built—is now fully deployed. After an incredible amount of meticulous planning and almost half a year of deployment and commissioning, in addition to slowly unfolding over two weeks, it is now on a mission to study the earliest stars and explore every phase of cosmic history.
On behalf of the ESSC, season’s greetings & happy new year to you! We thank you for your contribution to our team in 2021, and we look forward to more endeavours in 2022.
Recently published Nature papers report on lunar samples returned by China’s Chang’e-5 mission.
ESSC member and space professor at the University of Kiel Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber has received the International Cooperation Zhongguancun Award 2020 from the city of Beijing for his research on lunar radiation.
ESSC Chair and Professor of Climate Science Chris Rapley has resigned from the Science Museum’s Advisory Board over the issue of fossil fuel sponsorship. Rapley, who is currently Professor of Climate Science at UCL, has long-standing ties with the Science Museum, serving as its Director from 2007 to 2010.
In a recent podcast with Energy Live News, Chris Rapley discusses the implications of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report for governments around the world.
Chris Rapley is participating in the upcoming Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Joint Meeting May 24-27.
ESSC have been contacted by Dr Granata in order to share the following call for papers. “As a guest editor for a special issue of Frontiers in Space Technologies, I am soliciting a call for papers.
The European Space Sciences Committee – ESSC and his new Chair, Chris Rapley, congratulates Luxembourg for the launch of the European Space Resources Innovation Center – ESRIC.
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC), the Expert Committee on Space Sciences of the European Science Foundation (ESF), is pleased to announce the selection of Professor Chris Rapley as its new incoming Chair.
The ESSC committee was represented on the 21st of April, by Professor Hermann Opgenoorth, in an EC organised “Workshop on Education and Skills in the field of Space and EU -funded research”, in preparation for the upcoming Horizon Europe framework programme.
The ESSC met with representatives from the European Commission in Brussels on 30 January 2020. The interaction was very positive.
ESSC is very actively represented in the ESA Advisory Committee on Earth Observations (ACEO). In that respect, the ESSC Chair, A. Coustenis, who is also the former President of the IUGG/IAMAS Association, has attended all meetings and voiced the European scientific community’s ideas and opinion on the various subjects related to Earth space sciences.
A special report from international experts, led by the European Science Foundation’s European Space Science Committee, calls for the creation of a European coordinating entity for satellite product calibration and validation.
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) welcomes the outcome of European Space Agency’s (ESA) Council Meeting, held on November, 27-28 in Seville, Spain, and strongly supports the subscription of the science programmes by the Member States.
In frame of the consultation process launched by the European Commission on Horizon Europe, the European Space Sciences Committe (ESSC) submitted its recommendations on space sciences in the post-2020 research and innovation programme.
A special report from international experts, spearheaded by the European Science Foundation’s European Space Science Committee, explains the challenges and provides a set of recommendations.
On 16 April 2019, and in frame of the International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW), ESSC Chair Athena Coustenis received the 2019 IPPW Al Seiff Award.
Several members of the ESSC attended the NAS/SSB Space Science Week on 26-28 March 2019.
On 17-19 April 2019, the ESSC Chair attended the 2019 International Symposium on Lunar and Deep Space Exploration and gave a presentation on the “Perspectives of the Scientific Community on the European Space Program” where she described the European opportunities for scientific research and investigations in space in many different fields.
The European Space Sciences Committee members and secretariat are deeply saddened by the passing away of one of its past members, Jordi Torra.
The ESSC Chair was invited through ESA to attend the Women’s Forum Global Meeting 2018, Paris, France 14-16 November 2018, where Diversity but also Climate Change, STEM, clean energy, health and other important matters, very much relevant also to space, were addressed and discussed.
Prof. Hermann J Opgenoorth was awarded the Baron Marcel Nicolet medal for his efforts in the international coordination of Space Weather.
ESSC Chair, Dr. Athena Coustenis has been invited to give a talk at the United Nations High Level Forum which is taking place between 13-16 November in Bonn, Germany.
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) – the independent expert committee on space sciences of the European Science Foundation (ESF) – welcomes the outcome from the recent ESA Inter-Ministerial Council meeting that took place in Madrid, Spain on 25 October 2018, under the chairmanship of Mr Pedro Duque, Spanish Minister responsible for space.
The ESSC Chair, Dr. Athena Coustenis and the ESSC member, Dr. Alexandr Chouker met the president of the Central American Association for Aeronautics and Space (ACAE), Mr Carlos Enrique Alvarado, to discuss a potential collaboration between ESSC and ACAE.
ESSC and ESF invited to attend the ESA Intermediate Ministerial Meeting in Madrid, Spain on 25 October 2018.
The Chair of the ESSC, Dr. Athena Coustenis, has been appointed as the Chair of ESA’s Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC) – the senior advisory body to ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration.
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) has provided its recommendations on the public consultation of the next FP9 programme on a Space Strategy for Europe.
The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has published the full Science White Paper “Scientific Opportunities Enabled by Human Exploration Beyond Low-Earth-Orbit”.
The European Space Sciences Committee members and secretariat are deeply saddened by the untimely death of one of its most active members, Pierre Binétruy. Pierre was a unanimously appreciated and respected colleague.
