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 topicMeteorogical satellites
Europe’s series of Meteosat satellites has been improving the accuracy of weather forecasts for over 40 years. The first Meteosat was launched in 1977 and also goes down in history as ESA’s first Earth observation mission. From geostationary orbit, the Meteosat satellites provide a continuous stream of images of the whole Earth disc, to monitor the weather over Europe, Africa and parts of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.