ESA Top Multimedia
Fly around Flaugergues Crater on Mars
ESA’s Mars Express takes us on a journey across the southern highlands of Mars to Flaugergues Crater.
The video begins by tracking along a swathe of ground enclosed by two steeply sloping and roughly parallel cliffs – or escarpments – named Scylla Scopulus and Charybdis Scopulus (to the left and right, respectively). This ’path’ of ground is called a graben, created as tectonic plates pulled apart. It measures about 75 km wide by 1 km deep.
The prominent, 150-km-wide Bakhuysen Crater can be seen to the left.
The camera continues travelling northwards, approaching Flaugergues Crater in the distance. It moves along the crater’s eastern side before circling around to the left and ending at its western rim.
Flaugergues Crater is a roughly 240-km-wide basin found in Mars’s southern highlands, where most of the rough terrain is densely covered in craters. Half of the crater floor is also rugged, with parts rising up to elevations of around 1 km. We see a valley crossing this rocky patch, which was likely shaped by flows of wind and lava.
Enjoy the flight, and be sure to view the associated map of the area, which shows the route taken by the camera and highlights the key features seen throughout the journey. These features are also indicated in the voiceover.
Want to continue your airborne adventures on the Red Planet? Other Mars Express flights across the martian surface can take you to Nili Fossae, Ares Vallis, Xanthe Terra, Noctis Labyrinthus, and Jezero Crater.
How the video was made
This video is not representative of how Mars Express flies over the surface of Mars.
It was created using data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera Mars Chart (HMC20W), an image mosaic made from single orbit observations of the mission’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The mosaic image, centred at 20°S/17°E, is combined with topography information from the digital terrain model to generate a three-dimensional landscape.
For every second of the video, 50 separate frames are rendered following a pre-defined camera path. The vertical exaggeration used for the animation is three-fold. Atmospheric effects, like clouds and haze, have been added to conceal the limits of the terrain model. The haze starts building up at a distance of 250 km.
The HRSC camera on Mars Express is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The systematic processing of the camera data took place at the DLR Institute for Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The working group of Planetary Science and Remote Sensing at FU Berlin used the data to create the film.
Overhead perspective of Flaugergues Crater
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The Artemis II rocket with the full Moon on its launchpadESA's sustainability ambition
Space activities are unlike any others. They interact not just with Earth, but with three interconnected environments: Earth, Earth’s orbit, and the Moon and deep space. On Earth, we aim to reduce the space sector’s environmental impacts while maximising the societal and environmental benefits of our missions. In orbit, we manage space debris and collision risks to maintain safe and secure operations. For the Moon and deep space, we are laying the foundations to minimise the impact of our missions on and around other celestial bodies.
Guided by our core values, ESA is committed to making its activities more sustainable, redefining how space activities are conceived, executed and shared with the world. Our objective is clear: to address the most pressing challenges and implement ambitious changes, both in our own practices and in close collaboration with our partners.
Looking ahead, in support of Strategy 2040, ESA is determined to lead through ambition, action and collaboration, building a future where space is not only a domain of opportunity but also a model of sustainability, responsibility and global unity.
εpsilon mission patch
ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot (FR) is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in 2026. Her first mission to the International Space Station, εpsilon, is named after the fifth Greek letter and the fifth brightest star of the Leo constellation, following the French tradition to name human spaceflight missions after celestial bodies. It also pays tribute to the five career astronauts of ESA’s 2022 class. In mathematics, 'ε' represents something small. In the extensive collaborative effort of space exploration, involving thousands of participants, all roles, including the astronaut’s role, stay small, yet all are meaningful.
Just as the name reflects the power of small, yet impactful contributions and how multiple parts unite to create a whole, so does the idea behind the patch design. The hummingbird motif is central; though one of Earth’s smallest birds, it plays a crucial role in the jungle’s ecosystem, pollinating numerous plants. Around the edge is a ring of small dots, symbolising the many small contributions that together make great achievements possible. All these little actions that can be coordinated to form a circle and close the loop. At the top, three of these dots are coloured – blue, white and red – representing Sophie’s home country, France, and ESA’s exploration destinations: Earth, the Moon and Mars.
Three lines emerge from the 'i' of the εpsilon, shaping the tail of a shooting star, a poetic reminder that dreams keep us alive. Also featured are five stars, a tribute to the five career astronauts of ESA’s 2022 class. At the base of the patch is round blue shape, representing Earth’s surface and its natural beauty: mountains, forests and landscapes that Sophie enjoys exploring. It serves as a reminder of our motivation for spaceflight: to explore, learn and return with this knowledge to benefit life on Earth.
From an emotional perspective, the same message is conveyed. In life’s intricate tapestry, small threads contribute to create the most beautiful patterns. A kind word, a gentle smile, a moment of patience – these seemingly insignificant actions can transform lives and shape destinies. This patch invites each of us to embrace the potential of our smallest actions as they ripple outward, touching hearts and inspiring souls.
Animation of Ariane 6 with four boosters
Spinning Ariane 6 rocket showing four boosters it can use to rocket to space.
Ariane 6 is a three-stage launch vehicle with the boosters, main stage and then upper stage expending their propellant to reach orbit. The number of boosters and length of the tip of the rocket, called the fairing, can be adapted per mission.
Ariane 6 in its four-booster configuration doubles the rocket’s performance compared to the two-booster version that flew first in 2024. The P120C boosters used by Ariane 6 are one of the most powerful one-piece motors in production in the world. Flying with four boosters takes Ariane 6 to a whole new class of rockets. With the extra thrust from two more boosters Ariane 6 can take around 21.6 tonnes to low Earth orbit, more than double the 10.3 tonnes it could bring to orbit with just two boosters.
Jammertest: strengthening satellite navigation
Satellite navigation is essential to everyday life, from tracking your morning jog to landing air ambulances. But as reliance on satellite navigation grows, so do the risks associated with its interruption, natural or intentional. To strengthen European resilience in navigation, the European Space Agency (ESA) takes part annually in Jammertest.
Organised on the remote island of Andøya, Norway, Jammertest is the world’s largest open air testing campaign for jamming and spoofing resilience. In September 2025, ESA engineers attended Jammertest with ESA’s mobile navigation lab to test how different systems respond to interference. After this, the data are analysed to check which technologies perform the best against jamming and spoofing.
By bringing together academia, industry and governmental organisations, Jammertest helps make satellite navigation better for everyone and protects European assets.
More on Jammertest: ESA - Navigating through interference at Jammertest
Technicians prepare Ariane 6 for flight VA267
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Earth from Space: Rudong coast, China
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over part of the coastal area of Rudong County on China’s eastern seaboard.Dark rings and new light
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A dentist at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in the UK controlling a robotic arm at the University of Glasgow’s SCENE facility at Loch Lomond.This is Crew-12
COSMOS Field MoM-z14 Galaxy (NIRCam pullout image)
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Watch the keynote address by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher on the second day of the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels.
The European Space Conference is a key strategic event bringing together representatives from ESA, the European Commission, industry, national space agencies and other European institutions to discuss the future of Europe in space.
ESA Director of Earth Observation speaking during media interactions at the European Space Conference
ESA Director of Science speaks at the European Space Conference
ESA Directors speak to media at the European Space Conference
European Space Conference in Bruxelles: “Competitiveness - A Make-or-Break Decade Ahead”
Watch the panel discussion “European Space competitiveness - A Make-or-Break Decade Ahead”, featuring ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.
The European Space Conference is a key strategic event bringing together representatives from ESA, the European Commission, industry, national space agencies and other European institutions to discuss the future of Europe in space.
ESA Director of Space Transportation speaks at the European Space Conference
European Space Conference in Bruxelles: ESA DG keynote address
Watch the keynote address by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher at the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels.
The European Space Conference is a key strategic event bringing together representatives from ESA, the European Commission, industry, national space agencies and other European institutions to discuss the future of Europe in space.
Astrophysical anomalies from Hubble’s archive
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ESA Director of Navigation speaks during the European Space Conference
Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski speaks at the European Space Conference
ESA Director of Earth Observation speaks during the European Space Conference
ESA Director of Technology introduces the Industrialisation Centre of Competence
European Commissioner and ESA Director General speak to media at the European Space Conference
Delegates at the European Space Conference visit the ESA booth
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