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 topicFollowing on from the successful Vega–IXV mission in 2015, Space Rider will be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, reach and stay in orbit as long as required to perform the payloads operations, deorbit and reenter performing a ground landing to return payloads to end users and be refurbished and reused for the next mission.