About ESA

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.

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ESA - United space in Europe

This is ESA ESA facts Member States & Cooperating States Funding Director General DG Blog Top management For Member State Delegations European vision European Space Policy ESA & EU Corporate news

Establishments & sites

Headquarters ESTEC ESOC ESRIN EAC ESAC Europe's Spaceport ESEC ECSAT Brussels Office Moscow Office Washington Office

Working with ESA

Business with ESA Law at ESA Careers Security at ESA IT at ESA Media Partnerships Education Downstream Gateway Open Space Innovation Platform The ESA_Lab@ Initiative

More about ESA

History Exhibitions Publications Art & Culture ESA Shop Kids Diversity ESA logo

Latest

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An interactive showcase of imagery from the past quarter

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Story
ESERO France
Agency

ESERO France takes off to support and inspire STEM educatio…

26/06/2020 1100 views 27 likes
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Applications

Earth from Space: Peruvian Andes

26/06/2020 1802 views 64 likes
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Applications

Peruvian Andes

26/06/2020 2278 views 71 likes
The Andes mountains, in southern Peru, are featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
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Press Release N° 12–2020
Agency

Decisions from the 290th ESA Council meeting

The ESA Council met today in its 290th session and took some important decisions regarding the Executive’s senior management.
24/06/2020 7681 views
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Space in Member States

Find out more about space activities in our 22 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.

Austria Austria Belgium Belgium Czech Republic Czech Republic Denmark Denmark Estonia Estonia Finland Finland France France Germany Germany Greece Greece Hungary Hungary Ireland Ireland Italy Italy Luxembourg Luxembourg The Netherlands The Netherlands Norway Norway Poland Poland Portugal Portugal Romania Romania Spain Spain Sweden Sweden Switzerland Switzerland United Kingdom United Kingdom

Science & Exploration

Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe

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Programmes

Space Science Human and Robotic Exploration

Astronauts

Samantha Cristoforetti
Alexander Gerst
Matthias Maurer
Andreas Mogensen
Luca Parmitano
Tim Peake
Thomas Pesquet

Missions

Solar Orbiter Cheops BepiColombo ExoMars Gaia Rosetta More missions

Activities

International Space Station Orion service module Gateway Concordia Caves & Pangea

Latest

Image
Science & Exploration

Hubble watches the “flapping” of cosmic bat shadow

26/06/2020 551 views 19 likes
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Story
Sea of faces
Science & Exploration

Healthcare for each and every body

22/06/2020 1032 views 28 likes
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Science & Exploration

Meet the Experts: Astronaut training

19/06/2020 479 views 8 likes
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The Moon and Mars seen from Space Station
Science & Exploration

Explore farther

Exploration blog

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Press Release N° 8–2020
Science & Exploration

Hubble celebrates its 30th anniversary with a tapestry of blazing starbirth

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s iconic images and scientific breakthroughs have redefined our view of the Universe. To commemorate three decades of scientific discoveries, this image is one of the most photogenic examples of the many turbulent stellar nurseries the telescope has observed during its 30-year lifetime.
24/04/2020 502 views
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Safety & Security

Monitoring space and protecting our planetary environment

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About safety and security

Protecting our Pale Blue Dot The story so far Plans for the future

Asteroids

Risky asteroids Asteroid danger explained Flyeye telescope: asteroid detection Hera mission: asteroid deflection Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre

Space junk

About space debris Space debris by the numbers Space Environment Report 2019 In space refuelling, refurbishing and removing

Safety from space

Clean Space ecodesign cleansat Space for Earth Supporting Sustainable Development

Space weather

Solar Hazards Lagrange mission: providing solar warning Space Weather Warning Network

Latest

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Safety & Security

Antarctic meteorite hunt

26/06/2020 81 views 1 likes
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Future Flyeye survey telescope
Safety & Security

Reddit Ask Us Anything with ESA experts on asteroids: 23 Ju…

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Didymos asteroids
Safety & Security

Name given to asteroid target of ESA’s planetary defence mi…

23/06/2020 3098 views 26 likes
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Safety & Security

Was steckt dahinter?

22/06/2020 274 views 12 likes
Kurzbeschreibung von erdnahen Objekten
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Press Release N° 11–2020
Safety & Security

ESA highlights protection for our planet ahead of international Asteroid Day

The United Nations’ International Asteroid Day on 30 June highlights ESA’s expanding efforts to secure our future by understanding and addressing risks posed by near-Earth objects that could impact our planet.
22/06/2020 222 views
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Applications

Using space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth

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Observing the Earth

Observing the Earth Sentinel missions Earth Explorers Meteorological missions Space for our climate

Telecommunications

Telecommunications & Integrated Applications ARTES Business Applications Partnership Projects

Satellite navigation

Navigation Galileo and EGNOS NAVISP GNSS Evolution

Downstream

Downstream Gateway Open Space Innovation Platform Business Incubation

Latest

Image
Applications

ESAIL for safer seas

26/06/2020 17 views 0 likes
ESAIL for safer seas
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Applications

Meet the Experts: Weather vs. Climate

26/06/2020 44 views 0 likes
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Story
Citizen science to help food security
Applications

Take part in citizen science for food security

26/06/2020 1186 views 48 likes
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Applications

International Institute for Applied System Analysis

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Press Release N° 10–2020
Applications

Call for Media: ESA, NASA and JAXA to unveil COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard

ESA, NASA and JAXA invite the general public and media representatives to participate in an online media conference on Thursday, 25 June, at 09:00 EDT (15:00 CEST) where they will present a new dashboard that uses Earth observation data to show the impacts of COVID-19. This new platform will combine data, technical knowledge and expertise of the three space agencies to strengthen our global understanding of the environmental and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
18/06/2020 3548 views
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Enabling & Support

Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future

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Building missions

Space Engineering and Technology Test centre Laboratories Concurrent Design Facility Preparing for the future Shaping the Future Discovery and Preparation Advanced Concepts Team

Space transportation

Space Transportation Ariane Vega Space Rider Future space transportation Boost! Europe's Spaceport Previous launches

Flying missions

Operations ESA ground stations

Latest

Image
Enabling & Support

Arctic fires

26/06/2020 248 views 12 likes
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Story
Enabling & Support

Optical Cryocooling

26/06/2020 1 views 0 likes
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Tiger shark being captured by the tagging team
Enabling & Support

Space for the oceans

Space for the oceans

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Enabling & Support

Meet the Experts: Space for the future

12/06/2020 222 views 1 likes
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Press Release N° 13–2019
Enabling & Support

Vega flight VV15: findings of the Independent Inquiry Commission’s investigations

The Independent Inquiry Commission, tasked with analysing the failure of Vega Flight VV15, submitted its findings on Wednesday, 4 September.     Co-chaired by the Inspector General of the European Space Agency (ESA); and the Senior Vice President, Technical and Quality of Arianespace; the Commission was appointed on Thursday, 11 July. According to its assigned task, after having analysed the flight data, the Commission identified possible causes for the anomaly and drew up recommendations for Vega to resume launches under the requisite conditions of safety, security and reliability.
05/09/2019 5057 views
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