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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ESA's Little LEO Messaging System (LLMS) payload was launched attached to the Russian Resurs-O1 N4 Earth observation satellite on 10 July 10 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. LLMS was developed under an Agency contract with SAIT Systems in Belgium heading a team of companies from Belgium, Germany, Spain and the UK. The project was financed under ESA's ARTES telecommunications programme, mainly by Belgium with a contribution from Germany. This new telecommunications system will provide a low-cost, worldwide store & forward electronic mail service, expected to be offered commercially from mid-1999 under the name of IRIS by a subsidiary of the SAIT RadioHolland Group. The photograph shows the low-cost user's terminal with its antenna. E-mail messages are loaded and retrieved using a PC or a miniature Palmtop computer.
[Image Date: 1998] [98.08.001-001]