In 2005, ESA will be involved in a series of events in Europe and elsewhere.
The main ones are listed below and can already be pencilled into your
diaries.

January 2005

  • 14 Huygens descent on Titan: press event at ESA/ESOC and other ESA centres

  • 21 ESA Director General meets the press in Paris

  • 26 Heads of Agency meeting in Montreal, Canada

  • End Huygens results: press conference at ESA HQ, Paris.

February

  • t.b.c. Launch of Ariane-5 10t (ECA) from Kourou, French Guiana

  • 12-20 ‘Earth and Space Week’ and 3rd GEO Summit in Brussels. Exhibition and events with the EU

  • t.b.c. Smart-1 results: press conference at ESA HQ, Paris

  • 25 t.b.c. Mars Express science conference/symposium and press event at ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands

  • End Start of female long-duration bedrest study at Medes (Toulouse, France).

March

  • t.b.c. ESA’s 30th anniversary: ‘Open Days’ at ESA/ESRIN

  • t.b.c. ATV Media Day at ESA/ESTEC

  • 25 t.b.c. Launch of Cryosat from Plesetsk, Russia

  • t.b.c. 39th ESA parabolic flight campaign, Bordeaux, France

  • t.b.c. Launch of Maser 10 from Kiruna, Sweden

  • End Noordwijk Space Expo re-opens to public after refurbishment (activities at ESA/ESTEC).

April

  • 15-25 Launch of Soyuz to the ISS with ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori onboard

  • 18-20 4th European Conference on Space Debris at ESA/ESOC

  • 18 t.b.c. 2nd Space Council (joint ESA/EU Council meeting at ministerial level) in Luxembourg

  • t.b.c. ‘EGNOS operational’ event, Brussels.

May

  • Mid Launch of ESA student satellites by Cosmos from Plesetsk, Russia

  • t.b.c. 40th ESA parabolic flight campaign, Bordeaux

  • 27-30 (t.b.c.) ESA’s 30th anniversary: Open Days at ESA/ESTEC

  • 31 Foton-M2 launch on Soyuz from Baikonur

  • t.b.c. 14/05 at the earliest: Space Shuttle return to flight, mission to the ISS (May/June window) – Media event at ESA/ESTEC (Erasmus User Centre)

  • End (t.b.c.) 2nd Ariane-5 ECA launch (Meteosat Second Generation – MSG-2 – onboard).

June

  • 3 (t.b.c.) Female long-duration bedrest study ends – Press conference at Medes, Toulouse

  • 3-5 ESA takes part in the Salon de l’Innovation et de la Recherche, Paris

  • 12-19 Paris Air Show/Le Bourget, France (ESA not taking part).

July

  • Mid European Space Programmes at Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham (UK) – until end-September.

August

  • 16-21 Moscow Air Show, ESA exhibit.

September

  • Mid ‘The long night of the stars / Lange Nacht der Sterne’ – ESA’s 30th anniversary: Open Day at ESA/ESOC.

October

  • t.b.c. Vega launcher firing test in Sardinia, Italy

  • t.b.c. Soyuz flight from Baikonur for long-duration mission on the ISS

  • 17-21 IAF 2005, Fukuoka, Japan

  • t.b.c. 41st ESA parabolic flight campaign, Bordeaux

  • t.b.c. Launch of ‘Jules Verne’ ATV on Ariane-5 from Kourou.

November

  • t.b.c. First Galileo launch from Baikonur

  • t.b.c. Launch of Venus Express on Soyuz/Fregat from Baikonur.

December

  • t.b.c. Launch of Metop on Soyuz from Baikonur

  • t.b.c. Launch of new version of Soyuz, qualification flight from Baikonur

  • t.b.c. ESA Council meeting at ministerial level in Berlin.

Dates of certain events, especially of launches, depend on various factors,
such as readiness of the spacecraft and/or launcher, and thus remain t.b.c.
(to be confirmed) for some time. All Ariane launch dates are provisional,
with definite dates being confirmed by Arianespace. Soyuz launch dates are
confirmed by Starsem, and Space Shuttle launches by Nasa.