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 topicGOME, an ESA sensor launched in April 1995, is a nadir-looking spectrometer on the satellite ERS-2 measuring globally a range of atmospheric constituents both in the stratosphere and troposphere, with the main interest on ozone. The ozone layer, protecting our planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet sunlight, is threatened by human activities, in particular by the steady release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere. Despite international treaties, monitoring during the last 5 years shows that ozone is still globally declining. A record increase in the extent of the ozone hole over the Antarctic has occurred during October 2000. (Image: KNMI)