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 topicOne of the crew members of STS-100 aimed a digital still camera through Endeavour's aft flight deck windows to record this image of the cargo bay, backdropped against a scene of black space and Earth's horizon. Housed in the bay, beyond the docking mechanism in the foreground, is the Italian Space Agency-provided Raffaello cargo module, which is carrying several tons of equipment for the Expedition Two crew and racks of hardware for installation in Destiny which will be used for scientific research in the future. Raffaello, which is the second of three such logistics modules, will be berthed to the ISS on April 23 so its contents can be transferred to the station throughout the course of docked operations. Also in the bay is the 57-foot-long Canadarm2, which will be mounted on the Destiny Laboratory for future station assembly work. Endeavour's Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm can be seen in its berthed position on the port side of the payload bay.