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 topicGunnar Öquist, permanent secretary of the Royal Academy of Sience, and Per Carlson, chairman of the Nobel committée announce the Nobel prize winners in physics, 3 October 2006 in Stockholm. US sientists John Mather and George Smoot will share the prize.
The prize is awarded for their work on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. In 2008 ESA's Planck satellite will launch and build on this award-winning legacy by showing cosmologists the details of the Universe's origins.