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!
The increasing prominence of small satellites was highlighted at the 2014 Small Satellite and Services Symposium, co-organised by ESA and France’s CNES space agency in Majorca, Spain last week.
Miniaturisation and other developments have boosted the capabilities of small satellites to the point when they are being used increasingly in scientific and operational roles.
At the same time, smaller satellites are much cheaper to build and launch, putting them in reach of smaller businesses and individual university departments.
This is a full-size model of Canada’s BRIght-star Target Explorer (BRITE) nanosatellite – around the size of a toaster – displayed at the symposium.
Carrying a miniaturised telescope able to distinguish a star’s fluctuating brightness much more accurately than from the ground, multiple BRITE nanosatellites operate together as a constellation dedicated to stellar astronomy.