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 22 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 topicExample of an imagette from ERS-2. Imagettes are 10 by 5 km samples of the sea surface acquired by the satellite's SAR instrument as it works in Wave Mode every 200 km. Normally they are then converted into ocean-wave spectra, but raw imagettes are useful in themselves, and have been used to carry out a global census of so-called rogue waves.