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 coordinated ESA–NASA flight activities and orbital ground track of CryoSat on 17 April. The straight red and black thick line indicates CryoSat's ground track and the colour changes where the measurement mode switches to pass over the steep ice sheet margin. The dark green straight line shows the 15 April CryoSat track, with the yellow line indicating the NASA P-3 aircraft underflight. The white line shows the paths taken by the Twin Otter carrying the ASIRAS instrument and the green lines show the AWI aircraft carrying the electromagnetic sensor, which take measurements of the area for comparison.