ESA title

Our Mission

The development of technology – making new things to do new things – is central to ESA's existence. The Agency spends around 8% of its budget on direct research and development, an activity mandated in the ESA Convention. It runs many preparatory programmes to do this, covering various different inventions, each leading activities based on their technical maturity or their field.

  • TDE The Technology Development Element is responsible for early development stages across all service and technology domains, taking cutting-edge ideas and testing their suitability for space applications.
  • GSTP The General Support Technology Programme is an optional programme that takes previously proven innovations through to succeeding stages of engineering, finally evolving fully-tested hardware ready for adoption by future missions.

Our Responsibility

To make sure that the right technology will be available at the right maturity at the right time for future missions

Shaping the Future

Latest

NASA's Psyche mission
Enabling & Support

Europe's first deep-space optical communication link

10/07/2025 8152 views 67 likes
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Enabling & Support

50 Years of ESA R&D: An Oral History

16/06/2025 194 views 0 likes
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Enabling & Support

50 years of innovation: Zero Debris

16/06/2025 216 views 0 likes
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Enabling & Support

50 Years of Innovative Propulsion in TDE

16/06/2025 182 views 0 likes
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Enabling & Support

1975 to Today: TDE Antenna Developments

16/06/2025 181 views 1 likes
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Enabling & Support

ESA’s first stand-alone Deep Space CubeSat signs new phase

06/03/2025 997 views 9 likes
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Enabling & Support

Read the Annual Report 2023/24 now

12/12/2024 303 views 1 likes
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INVICTUS – Europe’s new hypersonic test platform
Enabling & Support

INVICTUS – Europe’s new hypersonic test platform

16/07/2025 16157 views 94 likes
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Radio eye on forest mission Biomass
Enabling & Support

R&D Successes Onboard Biomass

23/06/2025 646 views 24 likes
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Enabling & Support

Contract paves way for atomic oxygen testing facility

03/06/2025 674 views 11 likes
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Enabling & Support

Smartphone-speed microprocessor for space

25/03/2025 546 views 1 likes
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Enabling & Support

Contract signed for new Arctic Ocean Surveillance Precursor…

05/11/2024 1226 views 19 likes
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More items

  • Enabling & Support

    Proba-3’s new view on space weather

    03/07/2024 3236 views 32 likes
    Open item
  • Enabling & Support

    GSTP Celebrates 30 Years of Achievements

    29/09/2023 567 views 4 likes
    Open item
  • Enabling & Support

    Show Me Your Wings: Successful In-flight Demonstration of the ADEO Braking Sail

    27/01/2023 4401 views 15 likes
    Open item
    ADEO Artist Impression
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