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!
A view of Canada under the clouds seen from the International Space Station by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst. Visible at top left is a solar panel that powers the Station.
On 1 July Canadians celebrate Canada Day, and Alexander sent them a message from space: “Canada is beautiful! Happy Canada Day!”
The International Space Station is a collaboration between USA, Russia, ESA, Japan and Canada. All astronauts who fly to the weightless laboratory train extensively at sites in member countries.
Alexander learnt to use the Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm 2, at the Canadian Space Agency. Canadarm is a vital part of the Space Station as it captures visiting spacecraft and moves them to a berthing port for unloading supplies.
Frequent supplies are necessary for food and oxygen for the astronauts, but also for scientific experiments. Alexander will run over 100 experiments for all space agencies during his six-month Blue Dot mission.
Visit Alexander’s Flickr page for more beautiful images of our planet and the International Space Station.