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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Reinhard Furrer was professor of physics at Stuttgart when he applied for selection as an ESA astronaut for the first Spacelab mission in 1977. He made it into the final round of candidates, although Ulf Merbold was finally selected. In 1982, DLR selected its own astronauts for the first German Spacelab mission (D1) and Furrer was one of the two chosen. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle flight STS-61A, launched on 30 October 1985. After his spaceflight, he became a professor as well as Director of the Institute of Space Sciences at the Free University of Berlin. He died in a plane crash in 1995.