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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Polar Platform structural model undergoing sinusoidal vibration qualification test on ESTEC's new Hydra 6-degrees-of-freedom hydraulic shaker, January 1997. The spacecraft is installed on the Hydra table in its launch configuration. It can be tested in all three orthogonal axes without dismounting or changing the test facility mechanical configuration. It is the first time that a hydraulic shaker of this kind has been used for vibration tests on a satellite system (Hydra's first tests were limited to vertical excitations after a preliminary acceptance of the facility). [Image Date: 01-01-97] [97.01.011-045]