21 NOVEMBER 2011

GALILEO TAKES TO THE SKY

The first two Galileo satellites are launched, establishing the foundation for Europe's answer to the US GPS and Russian Glonass global navigation satellite services.

23 OCTOBER 2013

LAST COMMAND SENT TO PLANCK FROM ESOC

ESA's Planck space telescope was shut down after nearly 4.5 years soaking up the relic radiation from the Big Bang and studying the evolution of stars and galaxies throughout the Universe's history. Launched in 2009, Planck was designed to tease out the faintest relic radiation from the Big Bang – the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The CMB preserves a picture of the Universe as it was about 380 000 years after the Big Bang and provides details of the initial conditions that led to the Universe we live in today.

19 DECEMBER 2013

LAUNCH OF GAIA

Gaia is a space observatory designed for astrometry and is generating the largest, most-precise-ever 3D map of our galaxy by surveying more than a thousand million stars. ESOC teams provide full-time operations and tracking support for Gaia during its star-mapping mission.

APRIL 3, 2014

LAUNCH OF SENTINEL-1A

The first satellite of the first two-ship Sentinel-1 mission of Europe's Copernicus programme is launched on a Soyuz rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou. Teams at ESOC operate Sentinel-1, -2 and -5P in their routine phase, and conduct the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) for many of the other Sentinels. Sentinel-1 monitors many aspects of our environment, from detecting and tracking oil spills and mapping sea ice to monitoring movement in land surfaces and mapping changes in the way land is used.

6 AUGUST 2014

ROSETTA ARRIVES AT 67P

After 10 years of travel, including almost 3 in hibernation, Rosetta arrives at its destination. ESA's flight dynamics experts at ESOC played a crucial role, working behind the scenes to develop a series of ten orbit-correction manoeuvres that use Rosetta's thrusters to match the spacecraft's speed and direction with that of the comet.

12 NOVEMBER 2014

PHILAE LANDING ON COMET 67P

In an historic event, Rosetta's Philae lander touches down on the surface of Comet 67P/C-G, bouncing twice before finally settling down. Touchdown was confirmed at 16:03 GMT/17:03 CET on 12 November. The news is transmitted worldwide by hundreds of media gathered at ESOC, as well as ESA's own web and social media channels, and becomes one of the top international stories for 2014.

Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab

8 SEPTEMBER 2017

ESOC 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Five decades to the day following its inauguration on 8 September 1967, ESOC celebrated its 50th anniversary with its fourth public event: Long Night of the Stars. VIPs were joined by 5000 visitors to tour the site and control facilities and take part in what can only be described as Darmstadt's largest-ever space-themed street party.