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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Laser-induced contamination of a mirror measured and visualised in 3D at the nanometre scale. The largest feature height is about 60 nm and the area of the contamination in the image is about 0.15 x 0.12 mm. This image shows suspected laser induced contamination on the coating of a mirror surface, resulting from high power testing under simulated space conditions. The test conditions reproduce those found within the Aladin ultraviolet laser to be flown on the ESA Aeolus mission. This unique satellite will use the lidar – light detection and ranging – technique to measure wind speeds in the lower atmosphere on a global scale for the first time.