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 topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
A cold, dusky Saturn looms in the distance in this striking, natural colour view of the ringed planet and five of its icy satellites. This image was composed of exposures taken by Cassini's narrow-angle camera on 9 November 2003 at 08:54 UTC (spacecraft event time) from a distance of 111.4 million kilometres, about three-quarters the distance of the Earth from the Sun, and 235 days from insertion into Saturn orbit. The smallest features visible here are about 668 kilometres aross, which is a marked improvement over the last Cassini Saturn image released on 1 November 2002. New features such as intricate cloud patterns and small moons near the rings should become visible over the next several months as the spacecraft speeds toward its destination.