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 ground station at Redu in Belgium is part of the agency's network for controlling satellites, operated by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. This photograph shows the PASTEL Monitoring & Control Room (PMCR), installed in 1994. PASTEL is an optical terminal mounted on the French Spot-4 Earth resources satellite, designed to communicate optically with the similar OPALE terminal on ESA's Artemis satellite. The PMCR will monitor and control PASTEL via the Spot-4 control centre in Toulouse, France. Telecommands will be routed from Redu to Toulouse, from where they will be routed as part of Spot-4 commanding to the satellite. Telemetry data will flow in the opposite direction. [Image Date: 09-09-98] [98.09.005-126]