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
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Nets are being studied for capturing derelict satellites, to help stabilise space debris. The behaviour of nets in orbit was being checked on an aircraft flying parabolic arcs to create brief periods of weightlessness. The nets were shot out of a compressed air ejector at a scale-model satellite. Some 20 nets were fired at various speeds during 21 parabolas over two days. Packed inside paper cartons, the nets were weighted at each corner, helping them to entangle the model satellite. The parabolic flights by the National Research Council of Canada were contracted by Poland’s SKA Polska company, overseeing the project for ESA.