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.
SMILE is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The European Space Agency is preparing to launch the SMILE mission in collaboration with China.
ESA received Smile’s first signal at its New Norcia ground station in Australia at 06:48 CEST on 19 May 2026.
Ignasi Pardos is an ESA engineer stationed at Avio's control room in another building during the Vega-C launch operation.
The Soft X-ray Imager's charge-coupled devices are procured from e2v by the European Space Agency and calibrated by The Open University.
Avio launched the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) for the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences from the European Spaceport in French Guiana using a Vega C launcher.
SMILE is a joint scientific mission launched in 2015 by the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The ESA-JAXA Memorandum of Cooperation formalizes joint planetary defence work for the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety.
Open Cosmos presented the final design of the eight Spanish ESCA satellites in Seville during the ESA Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum.
The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on May 8.
SMILE is a joint scientific mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that was established in 2015.
Avio assembled the Vega C launcher for the European Space Agency.
The next Vega-C launch will carry either KASA's KOMPSAT-6 and ASI's PLATiNO-1 or ESA's Sentinel-1C and FLEX.
The ESA and its partners reduced Smile’s export-control-related delay from an estimated two years to one year.
The European Space Agency and CNES approved a three-year, $1.16-billion investment in Europe’s Guiana Space Center spaceport.
The European Space Agency and the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance commissioned the Holomondas Optical Ground Station in Greece on May 18, 2026.
The X-band communications work for future U-Space satellites is funded under the ESA PUSH program.
The Greek Connectivity Programme is managed by the European Space Agency on behalf of the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance and is funded through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The European Space Agency’s 2023 Council decision led to the July 2025 signing of the Launcher Exploitation Declaration.
Avio is the launch operator for Vega-C, marking the first time the launcher is operated by a private Italian company rather than the ESA.