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 astronaut Luca Parmitano does an eye test as part of an experiment on the International Space Station, June 2013.
Luca was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 28 May 2013 on a Soyuz rocket with Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg.
He served as flight engineer on the Station for Expeditions 36 and 37 and was the first of ESA’s new generation of astronauts to fly into space.