The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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The Cosmic Microwave Background is visible in all directions with (almost) the same intensity. This was confirmed by the COBE satellite, which measured (almost) the same temperature of 2.7 Kelvin everywhere on the sky.
However, the very existence of other galaxies points to the fact that there should be very small changes in the measured 'temperature' of the CMB. These changes, or fluctuations, would have provided the seeds for the formation of the galaxies that we see today.
Planck will be able to measure these tiny fluctuations, up to 5 millionths of a degree.