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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These two Envisat images over the North Sea illustrate the absence of aircraft over Europe following the ban on air travel enforced due to safety concerns over volcanic ash plumes billowing from the recent eruption in Iceland.
The first image, acquired on 21 March 2009, captures numerous aircraft condensation trails, or 'contrails', while the second image, acquired on 20 April 2010, shows a contrail-free airspace. The images were acquired by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument, working in Full Resolution mode to provide a spatial resolution of 300 m.