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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On 20 April 2010, NASA flew a DC-8 directly under CryoSat-2 orbiting above. The DC-8 flight trajectory is marked in yellow and CryoSat-2's orbit is in orange. The DC-8, equipped with instruments to measure ice elevation, is used as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge campaign. The measurements acquired by NASA offer an early opportunity to check the quality of the newly launched CryoSat-2 satellite data over sea ice.