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 topicDifferently from Earth, Venus does not have an intrinsic magnetic field to protect it from the solar wind, the constant flow of charged particles generated by the Sun. The planet is only embedded in a local magnetic field induced by the solar wind itself, and perhaps by local magnetism generated by the surface. This peculiar situation gives birth to a complex set of mechanisms by which atmospheric gases are lost to space, including water vapour. Venus Express will study the atmospheric escape processes at Venus and will help understand why the global climate of the planet and its atmopshere evolved in a way so radically different from Earth.