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
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On the occasion of the official opening of the Soyuz launch base, a commemorative plaque was unveiled and a stone from the Baikonur launch pad from which the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took off in 1961 was deposited on the site.
This stone is a powerful symbol of the continuity between the Russian launch site, which saw the start of the space age with Sputnik followed by the first human spaceflight, and the setting-up of a Soyuz launch operation in French Guiana. The arrival of Soyuz marks the culmination of 40 years of space cooperation between France and Russia, a decade of industrial cooperation in the Starsem framework, and the long-standing cooperation between ESA and Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).