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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This false-colour composite image from the Kompsat-2 satellite shows part of the Qarhan Salt Lake on the Tibetan Plateau in China.
There are multiple salt lakes across this region, but Qarhan’s 5850 sq km make it the largest. It holds an estimated 60 billion tonnes of salt, and is also a major production base for potassium and magnesium.
In this image, we can see division of the salt evaporation ponds. While the false colour makes them appear blue, salt ponds naturally range in colour depending on their algal concentration and salinity.
The nearest city, Golmud, sits about 50 km to the southwest (not pictured).
This image was acquired on 4 December 2008 by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Kompsat-2.
ESA supports Kompsat as a Third Party Mission, meaning it uses its ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data to users.