ESA - About ESA - History of Europe in space

All about ESA

ESA's Purpose Space for Europe A European Vision Establishments
and facilities Funding Security at ESA Publications

A European agency...

ESA and the EU European milestones European Space Policy New Member States European Cooperating States

Download

ESA Annual Report 2010 ESA Annual Report 2009 ESA Annual Report 2008 ESA Annual Report 2007 ESA 'e-book' presentation (pdf)ESA Convention DG's Agenda 2011 (pdf)

Article Images

History of Europe in space

Back to article

Pierre Auger

Back to article

Europa launcher at the Euro Space Centre

Download:

HI RES JPG (Size: 68 kb)

The Europa rocket at the Euro Space Centre in Belgium. Europa was one of the first European launchers, developed by ELDO.

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 150 kb)

Credits: ESA

Back to article

ESA logo

Back to article

Download:

HI RES JPG (Size: 479 KB)

The first Ariane L01 sits ready for launch in December 1979, at the ELA-1 complex at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Credits: ESA

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 653 KB)

Giotto's launch on the last Ariane 1 from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) at 11:23:16 UT on 2 July 1985.

Credits: ESA

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPG (Size: 674 kb)

HI-RES TIFF (Size: 2293 kb)

An artist's impression of Huygens on Titan.

Credits: ESA

Back to article

Schlegel works on Columbus during spacewalk

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 1640 kb)

ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel completed his first ever spacewalk. The second spacewalk of the STS-122 Shuttle mission lasted six hours 45 minutes.

Shortly after the spacewalk officially started to 15:27 CET (14:27 UT), Schlegel and NASA astronaut Rex Walheim headed out of the International Space Station’s Quest Airlock. The spacewalkers main task was to replace a nitrogen tank used to pressurise the Station's ammonia cooling system. The replacement of the tank is part of regular Station maintenance. A new nitrogen tank was carried to ISS inside Atlantis’ payload bay.

Credits: NASA

Back to article

Soyuz TMA-15 crew wave goodbye to the crowd

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 545 kb)

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and ESA astronaut Frank De Winne wave goodbye to the crowd gathered at the foot of the Soyuz launch pad stairs as they prepare for the Soyuz TMA-15 launch at 12:34 CEST on 27 May 2009 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2009

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 1420 kb)

ESA’s Earth Explorer CryoSat mission is dedicated to precise monitoring of changes in the thickness of marine ice floating in the polar oceans and variations in the thickness of the vast ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

Last update: 24 June 2010

ESA Oral History Project

30 years of ESA in pictures

50 years of space in pictures

ESA Publications

Education with ESA