Space science has been the core of European co-operation and success in space since the early 1960s. In the first years of this new millennium, ESA is looking ahead, building on a solid past, and working today to overcome the scientific, intellectual and technological challenges of tomorrow.
Today, missions operated by ESA are exploring the Sun/Earth connection and observing the Universe from space, while active planning is underway for future astronomy and astrophysics missions.
Herschel operations Herschel is the largest space telescope of its kind; its 3.5 m-diameter mirror is collecting long-wavelength infrared radiation from some of the coolest and most distant objects in the Universe. Herschel is the only space observatory that covers the s...
Planck operations Planck is Europe's first mission to study the Cosmic Microwave Background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang, which occurred about 14 thousand million years ago.
Integral operations The Integral mission is providing new insights into the Universe's most violent and exotic objects, such as black holes, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei and supernovae.
XMM-Newton operations ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory is the flagship of European X-ray astronomy. It is the most powerful X-ray telescope ever placed in orbit and is observing the 'hot' X-ray universe including objects like neutron stars, black holes and active galaxie...
Hubble operations The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), a collaboration between ESA and NASA, is a 2.4 m-diameter orbiting observatory optimised to observe from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Launched in 1990 and designed to be refurbished in space by astronauts, Hubble...
LISA Pathfinder LISA Pathfinder aims to test several technologies critical for the subsequent joint ESA/NASA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. These technologies are essential not only for LISA; they also lie at the heart of any future space-based te...
Last update: 7 December 2012
