The European Space Agency has announced a significant budget increase for the next three years, reaching nearly $26 billion.

NASA is unveiling close-up pictures of the interstellar comet that's making a quick one-and-done tour of our solar system.

A comet from another star system is swinging by Mars as a fleet of spacecraft trains its sights on the interstellar visitor.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best picture yet of a high-speed comet visiting our solar system from another star.

A pair of European satellites have created the first artificial solar eclipses through precise and fancy formation flying.

It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all.

Strauss' “Blue Danube” waltz is heading into space this month to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.

NASA's Webb telescope has captured pictures of the asteroid that caused a stir earlier this year when it topped Earth's hit list.

A European space telescope launched to explore the dark universe has released a trove of new data on distant galaxies.

Scientists have finally given the all-clear to Earth from a newly discovered asteroid.

Europe’s Euclid space telescope has detected a rare halo of bright light around a nearby galaxy.

A spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury's north pole.

A pair of European satellites has rocketed into orbit on a mission to create artificial solar eclipses.

A spacecraft has blasted off to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash.

It will be years before the European Space Agency can send one of its astronauts to the moon, but the agency says it’s time to start practicing as it opened a facility in Germany that will let astronauts train in conditions like those on the lunar surface.

A European space telescope is thrilling scientists with its latest peek at stars and galaxies.

Four astronauts from four countries are back on Earth after catching a ride from the International Space Station with SpaceX.

An old Earth-observing satellite has fallen out of orbit and harmlessly burned up.

Scientists have unveiled the first pictures taken by the European space telescope Euclid.

Four astronauts from four countries are rocketing toward the International Space Station.

Countries in southern Europe are preparing emergency measures at the start of a heat wave that is expected to push temperatures to 45 degrees Celsius (113F) in some areas over the next few days.

The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet.

A European space telescope has blasted off to explore the mysterious and invisible realm known as the dark universe.

A European spacecraft around Mars has sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch.

A crucial radar antenna on a spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed.

A critical antenna is jammed on a Jupiter-bound spacecraft launched two weeks ago.

A European spacecraft has blasted off on a quest to explore Jupiter and three of its ice-encrusted moons.

With more lunar missions than ever on the horizon, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone.

Astronomers have discovered what appear to be massive galaxies dating back to within 600 million years of the Big Bang.

The European Space Agency chief says he wants to rebuild Europe’s access to space following the botched launch of a European rocket carrying two Earth observation satellites last year and the delayed introduction of the Ariane 6 launcher.

The launch of a European Vega C rocket carrying two Airbus satellites has failed less than three minutes after liftoff from the European base in French Guiana.

The European Space Agency has made history by selecting an amputee who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident to be among its newest batch of astronauts — one step toward its pioneering ambition to send someone with a physical disability into space.

An Italian astronaut teamed up with a Russian cosmonaut in a rare spacewalking show of unity.

The European Space Agency is celebrating the first flight of its Vega-C rocket designed to provide more bang for customers’ buck in the increasingly competitive business of launching satellites into orbit.

The head of the European Space Agency says Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlights the need for the continent to become less dependent on other nations.

The European Space Agency has released a trove of data on almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is causing a swift and broad decaying of scientific ties between Moscow and the West.

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe will no longer be attempting to send its first rover to Mars this year.

The European Space Agency says the launch this year of a joint mission with Russia to Mars is now “very unlikely” due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a bolder European space policy, warning that Europe’s sovereignty is at stake if it falls behind rival powers in a key field for technology, science and military competitiveness.

The European Space Agency has narrowed down the candidate list for its next generation of astronauts, including dozens who have a physical disability.

NASA is shooting for next Friday to launch its newest space telescope.

High wind off the Florida coast has prompted SpaceX to delay the return of four space station astronauts.

A U.S. survey of astronomers puts the search for extraterrestrial life at the top of their to-do list for the next 10 years.

A French astronaut has used a video call from space to sound the alarm about worsening repercussions from climate change that he can see from the International Space Station.

A SpaceX launch has been delayed because of a ‘minor medical issue' involving one of the four astronauts.

SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut flight for NASA until Wednesday because of rough wind and waves hundreds of miles away.

A joint European-Japanese spacecraft got its first glimpse of Mercury as it swung by the solar system’s innermost planet while on a mission to deliver two probes into orbit in 2025.

Scientists say the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is larger than usual and already surpasses the size of Antarctica.

Two spacecraft are set to swoop past Venus within hours of each other this week, using the maneuver to do a little bit of bonus science on the way to the center of our solar system.

The European Space Agency says it was “blown away” by the record number of applicants hoping to become the continent’s next generation of space travelers.

Venus is hotter than ever, with a third new robotic explorer on the horizon.

Scientists say a vast iceberg that broke off Antarctica earlier this month could drift through the ocean for several years before it breaks up and melts away.

The European Space Agency has presented a vision to put satellites in orbit around the moon that would facilitate future missions to Earth’s closest neighbor.

SpaceX has launched its third crew in under a year for NASA, this time using a recycled rocket and capsule.

SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut launch by a day because of dangerously high waves and wind offshore.

NASA has chosen SpaceX to build the lunar lander that will eventually put the first woman and person of color on the moon.

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Friday, March 26, 2021. Meanwhile, the head of the Suez Canal Authority said strong winds were “not the only cause” for the Ever Given running aground on Tuesday, appearing to push back against conflicting assessments offered by others. A Dutch salvage firm is attempting to refloat the vessel with tugboats and dredgers, taking advantage of high tides. AdSome 9,000 tons of ballast water had been already removed from the vessel, the canal chairman said. The Suez Canal Authority organized the first media trip Saturday to the site where the vessel was stuck.

The ESA, NASA's European equivalent, is highlighting diversity in the drive: The final frontier for such predominantly white and male agencies. This year the ESA is looking to recruit more women astronauts, as well as people with disabilities who always dreamed of going into space. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)PARIS – The European Space Agency is holding its first astronaut recruitment drive in 11 years and says greater diversity is one of the goals. The European equivalent of NASA is seeking to recruit more women astronauts this year, as well as people with disabilities who have always dreamed of going into space. According to ESA, it’s the first time that a space agency anywhere has opened the application process up to people with disabilities.

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 19, 2016 file photo Josef Aschbacher attends a press conference in Rome, Italy. The European Space Agency said Thursday that Josef Aschbacher, an Austrian scientist who leads its Earth observation program, has been appointed as the organization's next head. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file)BERLIN – Austrian scientist Josef Aschbacher has been appointed to head the European Space Agency as the organization grapples with the fallout from Brexit and the rise of commercial rivals outside of Europe. The agency's 22 member states elected Aschbacher, who leads ESA's Earth observation program, to succeed current director general Jan Woerner when his term ends on June 30, 2021. Nineteen of the agency's member states are part of the European Union, while Switzerland, Norway and — since this year — Britain are not.

A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth on Thursday with the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. “As our nation's mostly complex and technically groundbreaking space mission, Chang'e 5 has achieved multiple technical breakthroughs ... and represents a landmark achievement," it said. Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a statement read out at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, called it a major achievement that marked a great step forward for China's space industry. The moon has been a particular focus of the Chinese space program, which says it plans to land humans there and possibly construct a permanent base. Amid concerns over the Chinese space program’s secrecy and close military connections, the U.S. forbids cooperation between NASA and the CNSA unless Congress gives its approval.

A Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon Tuesday to bring back lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s, the government announced. “Chang'e has collected moon samples,” the agency said in a statement. Beijing also has a spacecraft en route to Mars and aims eventually to land a human on the moon. China's space program has proceeded more cautiously than the U.S.-Soviet space race of the 1960s, which was marked by fatalities and launch failures. The Tianwen 1 probe launched in July is on its way to the red planet carrying a lander and a rover to search for water.

A Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon Tuesday to bring back lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s, the government announced. “Chang'e has collected moon samples,” the agency said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. If it succeeds, it will be the first time scientists have obtained fresh samples of lunar rocks since a Soviet probe in the 1970s. U.S. astronauts brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar samples from 1969 to 1972, some of which is still being analyzed and experimented on. The Tianwen 1 probe launched in July is on its way to the red planet carrying a lander and a rover to search for water.

In this Nov. 3, 2020 photo, provide by the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-6 satellite is placed inside the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The joint European-U.S. satellite mission to improve measurements of sea level rise is being launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday Nov. 22, 2020. The new satellite, called Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, contains cutting-edge instruments able to capture sea level height with unprecedented accuracy, adding to space-based measurements going back almost 30 years. “We owe him a lot and he more than deserves to have this satellite named after him,” said Aschbacher. It’s the first time that another space agency has been involved in ESA’s flagship Copernicus mission, which already has seven satellites in orbit measuring the seas, atmosphere and land.

BERLIN – A spacecraft bound for Mercury swung by Venus on Thursday, using Earth’s neighbor to adjust its course on the way to the solar system’s smallest and innermost planet. The fly-by is the second of nine so-called planetary gravity assists that the spacecraft needs for its seven-year trip to Mercury. Mercury’s extreme temperatures, the intense gravity pull of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions. BepiColombo will make one more fly-by of Venus and six of Mercury itself to slow down before its arrival in 2025. The last spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Messenger probe, which ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft took this image on 30 May 2020. During an online press briefing with Solar Orbiter mission experts, the first images from ESA's new Sun-observing spacecraft were released on Thursday. NASAs Parker Solar Probe is flying much closer to the sun than Solar Orbiter too close for cameras to safely photograph the sun. These so-called campfires, Berghmans noted, are literally everywhere we look. Not yet well understood, they could be mini explosions, or nanoflares. This is just the beginning of the long epic journey of Solar Orbiter, Muller said.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again to the end of July at the earliest this time for a rocket issue. Rocket maker United Launch Alliance needs extra time to deal with a liquid oxygen sensor line that showed questionable readings during a recent practice countdown, officials said Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates and China, meanwhile, still are pressing ahead with launches this month or next of Mars spacecraft. Russia and the European Space Agency had to bow out, delaying their Mars rover until 2022 because of delayed spacecraft testing and travel limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

CNN The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter made its first close pass of the sun on Monday, getting as close as 77 million kilometers (48 million miles) from the sun's surface. The probe made its closest approach at around 3.35 a.m Eastern standard time (07.35 UTC), Daniel Mller, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter project scientist, told CNN. The Solar Orbiter, whose mission is a joint collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA, was launched in February to study the sun. The sun's magnetic field is so massive that it stretches beyond Pluto, providing a pathway for solar wind to travel directly across the solar system. Solar Orbiter has now started its cruise phase.