ESA ECSAT
ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) is located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in the UK.
ESA's UK establishment
ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) is located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in the UK.
ECSAT has a focus on collaboration, supporting many cross-directorate activities, contributing strongly to the cooperative ethos at Harwell Campus, and working closely with communities from across ESA’s member states.
It hosts teams working in resilience, navigation and connectivity, as well as supporting commercialisation, Earth observation, exploration, and space technology engineering and quality.
The site comprises the ECSAT building, named after ESA’s first director general Roy Gibson, the Magali Vaissiere Conference Centre, and several facilities on the surrounding campus.
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Spaceship ECSAT
Spaceship ECSAT is an initiative based at ESA’s facility in the UK that is giving student researchers and young professionals from across Europe the opportunity to quickly investigate key challenges associated with space exploration.
Moonlight
Going to the Moon was the first step. Staying there is our ambition.
ESA’s Climate Change Initiative
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change leads international efforts to combat climate change and limit global temperature rise to less 2°C above what it was in pre-industrial times, as set out in the Paris Agreement. Robust scientific evidence of change is fundamental this challenging task.
Open Day 2026: ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, ECSAT, Oxfordshire
ECSAT in images
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Latest videos
Open Day 2026: ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, ECSAT, Oxfordshire
How to get to ECSAT
ESA ECSAT is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, UK, with excellent transport links to Oxford and London. Click on the link below to find out how to get to ECSAT.
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Resources & links
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Latest news
ESA opens its new AI Hub
A new European Space Agency facility that will use artificial intelligence to empower the development of space-enabled connectivity has opened in the UK.
In pictures: ESA’s open day in the UK 2026
Some 2000 visitors flocked to ESA’s facility in the UK last Saturday to step behind the scenes of Europe’s ambitious space endeavours.
Space materials lab marks 10 years of innovation
A cutting-edge materials testing lab located at Harwell campus in the UK is celebrating a decade of operations, giving its engineers the chance to reflect on the facility’s most impressive achievements and its ambitions for the years ahead.
ESA marks 60 years of Star Trek at London's Science Museum
The European Space Agency set a course for the Science Museum in London last week to join thousands of Star Trek fans at an event celebrating six decades of the iconic sci-fi franchise.
New AI Hub to empower space-enabled connectivity
A new European Space Agency facility that will use artificial intelligence to advance satellite-enabled connectivity is being developed in the UK.
Satellites enable 650 km remote dental checkup in the UK
A doctor located at the European Space Agency's site in Oxfordshire conducted a remote dental exam on a simulated patient 650 km away in Scotland, using a robotic arm operated via space-enabled 5G.
New ESA connection to advance robotics for lunar exploration
Engineers are using a satellite link between two European Space Agency facilities to advance teleoperated robotics systems that could enable future lunar explorers to study the Moon from afar.
ESA’s impact featured in key UK space policy report
Evidence provided by the European Space Agency was featured in a House of Lords report on space policy, highlighting the benefits and opportunities of ESA-UK cooperation.
Contact
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Address: European Space Agency (ESA) ECSAT, Fermi Avenue, Harwell Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0FD, United Kingdom
Media enquiries: +44 1235 444 200 ecsat.communication@esa.int
General enquiries: +44 1235 444 200 ecsat.site.helpdesk@esa.int