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 topicNorthern China is pictured in this image acquired by Envisat’s MERIS instrument on 8 February 2012. The North China Plain dominates the image, bordered on the north and west by mountains, with the Yellow Sea to the east. Flowing northeast across the Plain we can see the Yellow River – China’s second longest – before it empties into the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. In the upper left portion of the image near the mountains, China’s capital Beijing looks like a shaded circle.