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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Seventy-four weeks ago, on 12 November 2014, ESA’s Rosetta mission soft-landed its Philae probe on a comet – the first time that such an extraordinary feat had been achieved.
This image shows the 35 m-diameter deep-space tracking station at Malargüe, Argentina, during Philae’s touchdown that day. At the time of this photo, the station was receiving data from the lander, relayed via the Rosetta comet orbiter, and was in turn relaying the information to the mission control team at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
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Estrack – ESA's ground station network