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.
ESA member states have formally requested the cancellation of the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) program.
Orion is powered by the European Service Module ESM-2 built by Airbus in Bremen under the European Space Agency.
The European Service Module is based on the ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle heritage and uses motors from the space shuttle.
The European Space Agency’s Swarm mission has historically been used for World Magnetic Model updates with large, expensive government satellites.
Spain will use the European Space Agency to launch the expanded Atlantic Constellation satellite programme ESCA+.
Heriberto Saldivar is the Head of Strategy at the European Space Agency.
The European Space Agency presented its Strategy ESA 2040 after the CM25 ministerial council secured resources for its long-term roadmap.
Airbus builds the European Service Module for the European Space Agency.
The Celeste IOP phase leads to IOP deployment and exploitation by the European Commission or ESA.
The European Space Agency’s Themis reusable rocket demonstrator will initially use the Esrange orbital launch complex for testing.
ESA labels Celeste as a path from IOD to IOP toward an operational system.
ESA’s Celeste program spans the 2022, 2025, 2028, and 2030+ timeframes shown in the graphic.
The duagon hardware is designed to handle the high-volume data streams generated by the European Space Agency laboratory on the International Space Station.
Open Cosmos won the Atlantic Constellation tender in July 2025 after a competitive ESA-managed process.
Future Artemis lunar missions will create additional flight opportunities alongside NASA-ESA relations.
Spain authorized the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, through the Spanish Space Agency, to contribute 625 million euros to the European Space Agency for strategic projects in Spain.
ESA CM25 leads into the Celeste IOP phase.
IRIDE is an Italian constellation program promoted by the Italian government and coordinated by the European Space Agency with support from the Italian Space Agency.
ESA wants to procure the NILS2 flight while spending money in Europe.
ESA plans further launches from 2026 to complete the Celeste demonstrator fleet.