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!
Wraparound image from inside ESTEC’s Large Space Simulator. A vacuum chamber big enough to accommodate an upended double-decker bus, the LSS subjects spacecraft to the temperature extremes of space while in total airlessness for several weeks at a time. A dozen or more giant xenon lamps reflected in a mirror array simulate unfiltered sunlight. In everyday life, these lamps are more typically used individually, to illuminate IMAX movie projectors.