Meet ESA, the space agency for Europe

The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation, a cooperative coming together of its Member States in their national interest and common good.

With Europe’s space ministers meeting on 20-21 November to decide the Agency’s future course, this new video offers a quick introduction: Europe, meet ESA.

ESA does a lot with little, its budget several times lower than its international counterparts.

For an investment equivalent to a cinema ticket for each of us per year, the European Space Agency is one of the few organisations in the world active in all areas of space: exploring space and safeguarding the terrestrial environment while also boosting our continent’s technical knowhow and economic competitiveness.

“We can do more, together” was the credo that led 10 European states to found ESA back in 1975. Today, the success of this approach is clear. ESA technical leadership and the permanent support of its Member States have built a competitive European space industry in the global front rank.

From weather satellites to space-based telecommunications, navigation and environmental monitoring, the systems ESA has put in place have helped to strengthen Europe’s strategic independence and its place in the world, along with our quality of life and prosperity. ESA activities have given rise to new jobs, businesses and entire high-value industries.

“We can do more together” turned out to be an accurate prediction. Almost four decades on, this space agency for Europe has 20 member states, collectively achieving results that no single nation could match.

ESA has forged a culture of diversity, collaboration and excellence. Good work tends to have an impact, and ESA’s long-term record of cooperative success has in turn inspired a new ethos of cooperation among global space powers.

To learn more about ESA and its many and varied impacts on Europe and the world, watch the short video below.