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!
Proba-2 has reached Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on 3 September, where it is being prepared for launch this November. Among the smallest satellites ever built by ESA, it was transported there aboard an Ilyushin cargo plane.
Proba-2 is a mission of ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), building on almost eight years of operational experience gained with Proba-1. While standard satellites are lorry-sized structures, the Probas occupy less than a cubic metre. But this small scale does not limit their capabilities: Proba-2 carries a total of 17 new technology developments and four scientific experiments, focused on solar and space weather observations.