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.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicNASA’s Orion spacecraft, seen during Exploration Mission 1 in the late 2010s, will carry astronauts further into space than ever before using the European Service Module, developed on the heritage of ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV).
ATV’s distinctive four-wing solar array is recognisable in this concept. The ATV-derived service module, sitting directly below Orion’s crew capsule, will contain the propulsion capability for orbital transfer, attitude control and high-altitude ascent aborts. It will also generate power using solar wings and provide thermal control, water, oxygen and nitrogen for the astronauts until just before their return to Earth, when it will separate from the crew module.