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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This Envisat ASAR Wide-Swath radar artificially coloured image shows Lake Tumba (Ntomba), and next to it the longest river in Central Africa, the Congo River, which flows 4,374 kilometres (2,718 miles) from Zambia to the Atlantic Ocean. The Congo also gives its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, both countries lying along its banks. The river is also called the Zaire and is noted for its enormous basin, which includes all of Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and portions of Angola, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon, making it the largest drainage basin in Africa. The cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river at the Pool (bottom image), then the river narrows and falls through a number of cataracts in deep canyons and onward to the sea.