ESA marks October 2026 with rover training, an aurora capture and a crew return

The European Space Agency said it marked October 2026 as a milestone month for European space, with Mars rover training in Spain, an aurora ring around Earth, fresh clues about a giant Martian cloud, an astronaut’s return after 237 days in space, thousands of Open Days visitors and a Pokémon partnership.’}, {

ESA said the team behind the Rosalind Franklin rover trained at a desert site in Spain in October 2026, getting ready for the Mars mission. The agency counted the rover training within its October 2026 review of European space activity.

According to ESA, the Smile mission recorded a full aurora ring around Earth during October 2026. The agency placed the aurora result next to the Mars Express cloud finding in the October 2026 summary it billed as discoveries and milestones.

ESA said Mars Express turned up fresh clues about a giant cloud over Mars in October 2026. The agency paired the cloud findings with the Smile aurora result inside its October 2026 roundup of European space activity.

ESA said astronaut Sophie Adenot came home to Earth following 237 days in space in October 2026. Hera sent back its first pictures of the asteroids it will study to aid planetary protection in October 2026. It set Adenot’s return beside Hera’s first asteroid images in the October 2026 review, describing the asteroid imaging as planetary-protection work.

ESA said thousands of people came to Open Days in October 2026. The agency paired the Open Days visitors with the Pokémon partnership inside its October 2026 review of European space activity. The agency said its Pokémon team-up that month sought to share space science with new audiences, describing it as audience outreach.

The National Space Centre said ESA brought Pikachu to the ISS for World Space Week, held Oct. 4-10, 2026. The centre tied World Space Week to the 1957 Sputnik 1 launch and the 1967 outer-space treaty signing, placing ESA’s Pikachu trip inside those days.