European children draw a flag for the Earth

Over 11 000 entries have been received from children in the 15 ESA Member States, as well as Canada, which is cooperating with ESA on the Envisat project.

Each of the 16 winners will be ESA's guest from 16 to 17 June, at the 44th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. On arrival, they will be escorted to a hotel at Disneyland, Paris, their home during their visit to France.

The most memorable part of their stay will be attending the Air Show on Sunday 17 June. This is the day when the name of the grand winner of ESA's Earth Flag competition will be announced and the children will finally find out whose drawing has been chosen to emblazon ESA’s Envisat when it blasts off from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Although only one of the drawings can be chosen as the ultimate winner, each of the 16 country winners will receive a personal computer complete with printer and space software. This, together with an unforgettable trip to Paris, should allay any initial disappointment at not being chosen to attend the Envisat launch.

Once in orbit, the largest and most sophisticated Earth observation satellite to be built in Europe will be one of the world’s most important sources of environmental data and will make a major contribution to understanding environmental issues.

Congratulations to all 16 country winners, whose names are given below, and a big thank-you to all the children who took part. If you would like to see the winning entries, click on: http://www.esa.int/envisatcompetition