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 Hubble Space Telescope has widened our vision of the Universe and has shown us a cosmos that astounds even the scientists.
Astronomers from Europe, the United States and Canada are already working on a worthy successor. The Next Generation Space Telescope, NGST, larger and more powerful than its predecessor, is due to be launched around 2009 - just before Hubble will retire after two decades of successful hard work. NGST is expected to shed light on the Dark Ages of the Universe by observing infrared light from the first stars and galaxies.