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 topic
Integrated optics are used in this special camera
Darwin will use an integrated optical system technology.
Should the integrated-optics approach work, the rewards would go far beyond a few improvements in searching for planets. Here on Earth, for all home-computer users, for example, it could speed up the Internet by 100-1000 times. The consequences of surfing the Web at such speeds would be amazing.