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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The very first image acquired by ERS-1 on 27 July 1991 shows the Flevoland polder and the Ijsselmeer in the Netherlands. ERS-1 was ESA’s first sun-synchronous polar-orbiting mission. The satellite carried an imaging synthetic aperture radar, a radar altimeter and other instruments to measure ocean-surface temperature and winds over the sea surface. ERS-1 was joined by ERS-2 in orbit to provide uninterrupted observations of Earth. For 20 years, the ERS missions made substantial contributions to advance science, technology and applications for Earth observation.