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 towering primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) stands inside a cleanroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it will undergo its last cryogenic test before it is launched into space in 2018. In preparation for testing, the 'wings' of the mirror (which consist of the three segments on each side) were spread open. This photo shows one fully deployed wing, and one that is moments from being fully deployed. An engineer observes the move.
Successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST will help us to find out more about the origins of the Universe by observing infrared light from the youngest galaxies and possibly the first stars. It will show us in detail how stars and planetary systems form and will also allow us to study planets both in our Solar System and those orbiting around other stars.
JWST is joint project of NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency, and is scheduled for launch in October 2018 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.