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ESA Missions News 25 June 2025 - 17 November 2025

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: ESA Sharpens Its Path as December Flyby Fuels Livestreams and Debunks Doomsday Rumors

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: ESA Sharpens Its Path as December Flyby Fuels Livestreams and Debunks Doomsday Rumors

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1 ATLAS) – a frozen wanderer from another star system – is back in the news today as space agencies and observatories around the world fine‑tune its trajectory, release new images and prepare global livestreams ahead of its safe flyby of Earth in December 2025. At the same time, scientists are working hard to knock down viral claims that the comet is either an alien spacecraft or on a collision course with our planet. Spoiler: it’s neither. Here’s what you need to know today. What is 3I/ATLAS – and why is it such a big deal?
17 November 2025
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Umbrella in Orbit: ESA’s BIOMASS Satellite Lifts Earth’s Green Veil, Revealing Hidden Carbon Stores and Jaw‑Dropping First Images

X-Ray Vision for Forests: ESA’s Biomass Satellite and the P-Band Radar Revolution in Carbon Accounting

The ESA Biomass satellite, launched on April 29, 2025, carries the first P-band synthetic aperture radar (435 MHz) to map the world’s forests in 3D and quantify their carbon content. The mission uses a 12-meter deployable antenna—the largest radar antenna ever flown—to enable detection of biomass changes as small as 10–20 tons per hectare. Biomass operates in a polar Sun-synchronous orbit at about 666 km altitude for a five-year lifespan, scanning tropical, temperate, and boreal forests globally. The long-wavelength P-band radar (about 70 cm) penetrates dense foliage to measure forest height, volume, and biomass from canopy to trunk to ground.
25 June 2025
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