European Space Operations Centre
Centre overview
Director of Operations Rolf Densing
ESOC Brochure (PDF)
Mission history
#ESOC50
ESOC timeline - start
Where missions come alive
The life of a mission
Ground segment: preparing for launch
Launch campaign
Countdown
Liftoff!
Routine operations
Specialised facilities
Where we work and what we do
Centre of excellence
Ground station network
Space debris research & services
Space Situational Awareness
ESA Navigation Support Office
Software for space
cesah
Empowering European industry
Today: ESA ground systems software
Tomorrow: European Ground Systems Common Core (EGS-CC)
Advanced Mission Concepts
Want to SMILE?
What's happening
OPS-SAT – Your flying laboratory
TTC workshop 2019 – Telemetry, tracking and command
CCSDS 2019 – the space data conference
ESOC access
Getting to ESOC
Contact us
ESOC guided tours

'Space data' conference

Twice a year since 1982, space agencies around the world have met to develop standards for space communication & data systems. Find out more about the CCSDS 2019 meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, over 21-24 October

Register now!

ESA's 8th international workshop on tracking, telemetry and command systems for space will be held at the Agency's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany from 24-27 September

Speaking to spacecraft

Operations image of the week: This giant dish in Australia spends its time in in-depth conversation with a number of European deep space missions, bringing their discoveries down to Earth

A space-inspired city

Operations image of the week: What do you get if you cross a space agency with a city? A space-inspired, intelligent, digital city!

Apply to fly

Apply now to test your experiment on ESA's flying laboratory, OPS-SAT – the world's first mission specifically dedicated to mission operations and in-orbit software testing

Catching rockets

Rockets launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, are tracked by antennas across the globe, including three from ESA’s Estrack network. Find out more in our latest infographic

Which rocket?

How do we choose the perfect rocket to lift each unique mission to space? Find out how a spacecraft's mass and final destination play a huge role in our latest infographic

Innovation at ESOC

The 7th European Ground System Architecture Workshop, 21-22 May, will showcase the newest and most innovative work being done in the area of mission control.

Space debris report

ESA's 2019 Space Debris Environment Report is now online, providing the latest facts and figures on the space junk surrounding our planet

Latest News

AI challenged to stave off collisions in space09 October 2019

AI challenged to stave off collisions in space09 October 2019 ESA is challenging machine learning experts to help forecast and prevent collisions in space. The Agency’s Advanced Concepts Team and Space Debris Office have come together to set up the latest in a series of AI-themed competitions based on actual spa...

Plaskett and companion craters - AMIE mosaic

Follow live: Magically exploring ‘the Moon’ from afar24 September 2019

Follow live: Magically exploring ‘the Moon’ from afar24 September 2019 As Europe sleeps, in the early hours of Wednesday 25 September, a small rover in Canada will explore a mock lunar surface, controlled from ESA’s ESOC operations centre in Germany.

Angelic halo orbit chosen for humankind’s first lunar outpost18 July 2019

Angelic halo orbit chosen for humankind’s first lunar outpost18 July 2019 Mission planners at NASA and ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) have spent months debating the pros and cons of different orbits, and have now decided on the path of the lunar Gateway.

Gaia’s biggest operation since launch15 July 2019

Gaia’s biggest operation since launch15 July 2019 On Tuesday 16 July, teams at ESA’s mission control will perform an ‘orbit change manoeuvre’ on the Gaia space observatory – the biggest operation since the spacecraft was launched in 2013.

Space agencies come together14 June 2019

Space agencies come together14 June 2019 On 14 June, President Hiroshi Yamakawa of JAXA was welcomed at the 282nd meeting of the ESA Council – the Agency’s governing body – held at ESA’s Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. For decades, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aeros...

New era for New Norcia deep space antenna04 June 2019

New era for New Norcia deep space antenna04 June 2019 The 35-m deep space antenna in New Norcia, Western Australia, is being looked after by a new team, led for the first time by a female site manager, Suzy Jackson.

News Archive