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 topicDuring the 35th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign, a 'frequent flyer' team from Eindhoven University and Philips in the Netherlands are investigating why high performance metal halide bulbs tend to flicker and become unstable in certain characteristic ways linked to convection currents and hence to gravity. Removing the influence of gravity changes the behaviour of the instabilities, and gives insights into why they are occur and how they can be designed out in future.