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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Ulysses was launched on 6 October 1990 at 12:47:15 CET, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. It was first placed in a low-Earth orbit after which two propulsion modules injected it into an interplanetary orbit. Sixteen months later, on 8 February 1992, having travelled nearly a thousand million km, Ulysses reached Jupiter where a gravity-assist manoeuvre swung the craft into its unique solar orbit that took it over the Sun’s poles.