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 topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
Carrying a novel P-band synthetic aperture radar, ESA’s Earth Explorer Biomass satellite mission delivers completely new information on forest height and above-ground forest biomass from space. This information will provide new insight into the state of our forests and how they are changing, and further our knowledge of the role forests play in the carbon cycle.
The photograph was taken during the solar panel deployment tests at Airbus in Toulouse, France, on 14 February 2023. The solar array is a single wing comprising four panels. The panels open from the side of the satellite via a yoke, and once fully deployed the four panels rotate to a fixed angle. Outstretched, the wing has an area of just over five square metres and generates the power that the satellite needs in orbit.