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The purpose of our work is also to support the development of research and technologies in space - on the International Space Station but also on the US Space Shuttle, Russian Foton capsules, European sounding rockets, parabolic flights or drop towers and tubes. This research and technology development will benefit people on Earth and prepare Europe for the new challenges of human space exploration.

The people within ESA who work on these projects come from all of ESA’s Member States and cover a variety of disciplines mainly oriented towards engineering and science. In view of the size of the projects (annual budget of 500 million Euro), strategic and legal matters are also very important, and the education of the young generations that will support and ensure the continuation of our work is fundamental.

The Space Station also needs a crew to operate it and ESA has an astronaut corps, consisting of 8 Europeans, who are training for the upcoming missions. They are supported by a team of ground operators and trainers who work in the European training, control and user centres. In total, some 4000 highly skilled people around Europe are directly involved in achieving these goals.