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 topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
The European Columbus laboratory and its external SOLAR facility in Space Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay during the journey to the International Space Station. Columbus was installed on the starboard side of the Station's Harmony module on 11 February 2008. SOLAR was installed during the mission's third spacewalk and studyied our Sun until 15 February 2017 when it was shut down.
SOLAR is a combination of instruments which together measure the Sun’s output with unprecedented accuracy from the infrared to the ultraviolet. The experiment is run automatically from the ground and uses its sensors to measure the Sun’s temperature.