The European Space Agency is planning to beam Johann Strauss's 'Blue Danube' waltz out into the cosmos to celebrate a series of key anniversaries in the history of spaceflight.
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the European Space Agency and its 'Estrack' satellite tracking network.
It also marks the 20th anniversary of its 'Cebreros' space antenna and, coincidentally, the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II himself, composer of the Blue Danube.
The music selection is fitting, as the piece is perhaps most popularly recognised as having been used in Stanley Kubrick's landmark sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
See the space waltz performed live
The European Space Agency and the Vienna Tourist Board are teaming up to host a live performance by the Austrian Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra) on Saturday 31 May 2025, beginning at 20:30 CEST (19:30 BST / 14:30 ET).
Part of the concert will be transmitted into space by ESA’s Cebreros antenna, the transmission beginning at 21:30 CEST (20:30 BST / 15:30 ET).
You can see the livestream of the concert via space.wien.info.
About Estrack
Estrack is the European Space Agency's global network of ground stations that allows teams of scientists to monitor and control satellites in space.
The network can be used to track satellites in Earth orbit, or those venturing out to investigate objects like comets and asteroids.
It also keeps track of European rocket launches as they soar into space
The network's first antenna came online in Villafranca, just outside Madrid, in 1975 at the site where the European Space Astronomy Centre now stands.
In 2005, the nearby deep-space antenna in Cebreros came online. This 35m-wide dish can listen to missions travelling beyond the Moon.
It has supported missions like BepiColombo, Euclid, Juice, Hera, Rosetta, Mars Express and NASA’s Perseverance rover.
On Saturday 31 May 2025, the Cebreros station will transmit a concert performance of The Blue Danube Waltz into deep space.
"We are delighted that Cebreros station can support this artistic project using spare capacity to transmit a signal to the Universe," says Octave Procope-Mamert, responsible for ground infrastructure for spacecraft operations at ESA.
"Sending a work of musical genius to the stars highlights the technical genius that we apply every day in flying and communicating with European missions discovering new knowledge throughout the Solar System."
Watch the concert online at space.vienna.info
