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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The single most magnetically-shielded room on Earth is part of Germany’s national standards institute, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, (PTB) in Berlin. Known as the BMSR-2, this is a chamber built like a set of Russian dolls out of seven separate shells of magnetically-resistant ‘mu-metal’ – each one thicker than the last – plus a final layer of aluminium. Built on a 6m-thick concrete layer to dampen vibration, it is also fitted with compensating magnetic coils to cancel out any temporary variations in Earth’s magnetic field.
Engineering models of the LISA Pathfinder test masses were tested there in February 2007, with trials repeated for the flight models in July 2009.