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 topicMT-Aerospace in Germany offers four microlauncher concepts with either ground, air or stratospheric launch capabilities: MTA, WARR, Bloostar (being developed by Zero 2 Infinity) and Daneo.
A stratospheric helium balloon carries Bloostar, weighing about 5 tonnes, to an altitude above 20 km where Bloostar blasts off and separates from the balloon platform. This three-stage vehicle uses liquid methane and oxygen in pressure fed engines.
Launching a rocket above 99% of the mass of the atmosphere, where the aerodynamic resistance is almost nonexistent, yields several significant advantages compared to a standard ground-based launch. Among them: lower drag losses, lower gravity losses and nozzles working at optimum performance, and reduced thermal heat flux by a factor of ten, thus benefitting from significant mass savings.