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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Navigating a spacecraft to distant locations typically requires a team of scientists and engineers using sophisticated radios, large antennas, computers, and precise timing equipment. Another method that has been explored more over the past decade is to navigate using pulsars – magnetised, swiftly rotating, dying stars that emit beams of electronic radiation out of their magnetic poles.
Millisecond pulsars – which have rotation periods of less than ten thousandths of a second – offer the most precise timing standard known. In a kind of celestial GPS, spacecraft can measure the time between receiving each pulse of radiation from three different pulsars, looking for tiny changes in the arrival times to pinpoint its location.