Agence spatiale européenne
The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to space exploration, with 22 member states. Founded in 1975, ESA shapes Europe's space capabilities, ensuring investments in space deliver benefits to European citizens, working across the entire space sector. ESA develops and operates Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications, and astronomy satellites and sends probes to explore the solar system, partnering with agencies like NASA, JAXA and commercial partners like Airbus. Key programs include the development of launch vehicles like Ariane and Vega, the Galileo satellite navigation system, and missions like Rosetta and BepiColombo.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The ESA planetary missions BepiColombo to Mercury and JUICE to Jupiter utilize instruments developed at the DLR Institute for Space Research.
Prof. Heike Rauer will advise the DLR Board on ESA matters and enhance collaboration with Freie Universität Berlin in planetary geophysics.
North Rhine-Westphalia is home to the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center, where the European astronaut corps trains for space missions.
In 2009, ESA and CNES funded an exploratory study named TropiSAR to acquire measurements with a P-band radar from a French science aircraft over French Guiana’s forests.
The European Space Agency (ESA) Biomass satellite is carrying a P-band radar operating at a low frequency of 435 MHz and a long wavelength of 70 cm.
ESA's Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) was installed outside the International Space Station (ISS).
Biomass is the seventh Earth Explorer mission in the ESA's FutureEO program.
The ESA mission Biomass is scheduled to launch on a Vega-C rocket on April 29, 2025.
The ESA mission SWARM has been measuring the Earth's magnetic field since 2013.
The European Space Agency (ESA) sent its last messages to the Gaia spacecraft on March 27, 2025.
The LUPEX rover will carry instruments from Japan and India and contributions from NASA, ESA, and ISRO.
ESA is contributing a mass spectrometer on LUPEX to identify volatiles that escape from drilled samples and to study the Moon’s exosphere.
ESA's competition aims to evaluate proposals based on technical merits and business plans rather than financial contributions.
ESA will provide up to €169 million to each selected company as part of its European Launcher Challenge.
The relationship between the EU and ESA is defined in a 2004 Framework Agreement.
The ESA's astrometry satellite Gaia was put into a final sleep state on March 27, 2025.
Gaia was launched into space on December 19, 2013, by the European Space Agency using a Soyuz/Fregat rocket.
ESA began operating a LUNA facility since late 2024 to support lunar testing and qualification.
ESA and JAXA announced in November 2024 that they would examine opportunities for cooperation across a range of space projects including lunar exploration and have identified various lunar areas to evaluate in detail.
Today, the Disasters Charter has 17 members, including agencies like NOAA in the USA and ESA.