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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Astronaut Terry Virts on the ISS shaking with the head of ESA's Telerobotics Lab Andre Schiele on the ground via a force-feedback joystick on the evening of 3 June 2015. First the ISS joystick was moved, then the slaved joystick on the ground. Then Andre shook the ground joystick in turn, felt by Terry in orbit. This first 'handshake with space' took place as part of the Lab's Haptics-2 experiment, harnessing advanced telerobotics technology for the control of space robot systems. ESA's Telerobotics and Haptics Laboratory is based at ESA's ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.