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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Plot showing rate of change of Antarctic ice-sheet elevation. The intermediate grey shading in the plot inset is where ice is resting on rock below sea level - these are areas where the greatest thinning has been observed. Light grey shows floating ice shelves that have no impact on sea level.
Credits: Wingham, D.J., Shepherd, A., Muir, A. and Marshall, G.J. 2006. Mass balance of the Antarctic
ice sheet. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 364: 1627-1635.