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 ESA/NASA Soho spacecraft was launched on 2 December 1995 to investigate the structure and dynamics of the solar interior, the phenomena that form the hot solar atmosphere and its expansion into the solar wind. Soho is circling the so-called L1 Lagrangian point, 1.5 million km out on the Earth-Sun line, providing its scientific instruments with an uninterrupted view of the Sun. [Image Date: 1998/03] [98.03.009-001]