The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThe flight model of the piezo scanning mechanism produced by Cedrat Technologies and developed to ESA for integration into the MIDAS instrument for the Rosetta spacecraft. The hearth of MIDAS is the scanning mechanism that is build with Cedrat Technologies amplified piezo actuators. Eight APA50S are arranged to provide a travel motion of 100 µm along the X and Y directions. The Z-axis is a customised parallel pre-stressed actuator which provides a stroke of 8 µm. To protect the scanner against the high vibrations during launch, a special locking mechanism had to be developed and qualified. The whole mechanism includes 100 parts and weights less than 500 grams.