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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Simulated distress signal beacon localisation performance during qualification testing of the Maspalomas Medium-Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MEOLUT), on Gran Canaria, part of an extension of the international Cospas–Sarsat search and rescue programme into medium-altitude orbits, spearheaded by Galileo. The station has first to detect Cospas–Sarsat distress signals within its service area, then locate their position so that the information can be relayed on to the relevant search and rescue authority to react. Precision improves greatly as more satellites are detected, with the majority of detections within 5 km geographical accuracy and many within 2 km. In practice, the three MEOLUTs work together as one giant station, improving system performance still further.