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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ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team has received a prestigious ‘Humie’ award for their use of ‘evolutionary computation’ to evolve this spacecraft trajectory around Jupiter’s Galilean moons, achieving an efficiency beyond the best human efforts. This optimal trajectory was 'bred' to survey the Galilean moons, using the smallest quantities of spacecraft propellant to image as much of their terrain as swiftly as possible – an important point because of the hostile radiation belts that surround Jupiter.