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
Go to topicOn a 120 000 kg mobile platform, a set of passive rendezvous targets (retroreflectors), identical to the ones to be installed on the ISS, were facing the videometre which was mounted on an articulated robotic arm (with six degrees of freedom) representing the ATV motion. Inside an exceptional 600m-long building, the platform, able to ride on 550m-long rails, made possible the simulation of a continuous approach between the two space vehicles from a range of several hundreds metres to almost docking distance. The pulsed laser beams emitted by the videometer on the ATV are passively reflected by retroreflectors attached to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS), resulting in unique light patterns.