posted 08-04-2026 02:41 PM               

Sputnik x Poké Ball: ESA and Pokémon team-up for World Space Week

A small ball was once thrown out to "catch 'em all," beginning a competition and attracting the attention of the entire world.

Now, almost 70 years after the former Soviet Union launched the spherical Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, the European Space Agency (ESA) has partnered with The Pokémon Company to raise awareness and celebrate World Space Week, the annual commemoration of the start of the space race.

posted 09-19-2026 04:18 PM               

Pikachu, back from space station, kicks off ESA x Pokémon collab

A special visitor made a secret trip to the International Space Station earlier this year to spark interest in the European Space Agency (ESA) and its activities.

As revealed on Saturday (Sept. 19), Pikachu spent 67 days on board the orbiting outpost from April 11 to June 17. The best known of all the Pokémon — in the form of a plush toy — the electrified yellow mouse arrived at the space station on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft and returned to Earth on board a SpaceX Dragon capsule.