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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The Pharao atomic space clock arriving at Airbus Space and Defence in Friedrichshaffen, Germany. It will be assembled here with another atomic clock to form part of the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space, ACES.
Delivered by France’s CNES space agency, Pharao is accurate to a second in 300 million years. This will allow scientists to test fundamental theories first proposed by Albert Einstein to an accuracy that is impossible in laboratories on Earth.
The final 375 kg experiment will be installed on a platform outside Europe’s Columbus space laboratory.