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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Foton-11 launch vehicle processing. The European Space Agency (ESA) continues to investigate the unique environment of space and its impact on organisms, this time with scientific experiments on board a Russian Foton spacecraft. On 9 October 1997, a Russian Soyuz launcher, carrying the spherical Foton capsule, lifted off from the Cosmodrome in Plesetsk in northern Russia at 20h08 Central European Time. The first ESA experiments were activated 10 minutes later.