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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Catching Rosetta's wake-up signal on 20 January 2014 using one of NASA's 70m stations was not without challenges.
Even after 31 months of no contact, however, the flight dynamics team at ESOC could predict the spacecraft's location in the sky to within just 2000 km at a distance of 807 million km – equivalent to a tiny fraction the size of a full Moon.