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.
Camera observations from ELSA-d will generate data to be used by ESA in developing a future larger optical instrument.
Sodern is building optical navigation systems for the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which is planned for launch in 2022.
Though Galileo is an EU program, it is operated by the European Space Agency, and the United Kingdom will remain a member of ESA after Brexit.
The European Space Agency invested 300,000 EUR in PLD Space’s efforts.
On 2018-10-25 ESA adopted a resolution that encourages the prompt conclusion of launch service contracts with Arianespace for European institutional missions planned for the period 2020–2023.
ESA Director General Jan Woerner described the 2018-10-25 joint statement as a first step in pooling government missions across Europe to provide a minimum multi-year order for the Ariane 6 and Vega C rockets.
Ariane 6 development began in earnest in 2014 after the European Space Agency approved the rocket at its 2014 ministerial conference.
The next ESA Earth Observation Envelope Programme will be decided at the ESA ministerial conference in November 2019.
The European Space Agency plans to launch an Earth observation satellite nicknamed BrainSat equipped with Intel’s Myriad visual data processor.
ESA issued an announcement of opportunities for the Small Spacecraft Mission Service demonstration in 2017 and received 71 responses representing 166 spacecraft, of which 30 are institutional.
The United Kingdom plans to remain a member of the European Space Agency.
During the 2018-10-25 meeting in Madrid, ESA’s 22 member states gave the agency director a mandate to negotiate the agency’s relationship with the European Union.
The European Space Agency agreed to cooperate with the Italian space agency ASI to deploy the asteroid-hunting Fly-Eye telescope to the site of Monte Mufara in Sicily.
Lumi Space is the first announced winner of the Open Cosmos and ESA Business Applications Call to Orbit competition.
Thales Alenia Space received a 324,000,000 EUR contract from the European Space Agency on 2018-10-18 to develop new ground segment and security systems for the Galileo satellite navigation system.
Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor on an amended 2010 contract with the European Space Agency and Eumetsat for six Meteosat Third Generation geostationary satellites.
Airbus Defence and Space is the prime contractor for ESA’s portion of BepiColombo and led a team of 83 companies from 16 countries in building the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, the carrier module, and the sunshield.
In 2009 ESA approved a redesigned BepiColombo mission featuring systems optimized for the extreme temperatures near Mercury despite increased cost.
An Airbus-led consortium including Planet won a contract in July to provide high-resolution imagery of Europe for the European Commission and the European Space Agency’s Copernicus program.
Four additional Arianespace customers with Soyuz missions scheduled 2018 or next include OneWeb, OneWeb’s base in the Channel Islands, SES of Luxembourg, the Italian Space Agency, and the European Space Agency.