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
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
Electromechanical actuators were used for the thrust vector control system of Vega's second, third and fourth stages, controlling their thrust direction during flight. Used for the first time on a European launcher, in place of the bulkier hydraulic thrust vector control system employed by Ariane 5, each stage has two actuators for orienting the rocket nozzle, an electronic control unit called the Integrated Power Distribution Unit (IPDU) and a lithium-ion battery, all linked by a cable harness.