About ESA
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.
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Space in Member States
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Czechia
Romania
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Science & Exploration
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicAstronauts
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Enabling & Support
Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Luisa Innocenti
Luisa Innocenti has been leading the Clean Space effort since it first received authorisation at ESA’s 2012 Council of European Ministers, while also serving as its ambassador to the wider European and global space sectors.
How did you get started in the space business?
I was studying physics, and for my thesis I got involved with materials testing in weightlessness, during parabolic flights. I started joking I might become an astronaut and started taking that idea more seriously for a while – although later on, having learned how much researchers make use of astronauts as guinea pigs, I became less enthusiastic! But from there I became an ESA Young Graduate Trainee, and became project scientist for the Eureca (European Retrievable Carrier) platform, studying the environmental effects of Earth orbit.
What has been your biggest surprise from working in the space business?
It’s hard to talk about surprises, every job can start to seem routine after doing it for a long while. But I recall recently having a technical meeting, and suddenly realising that there were ten of us, from different countries, organisations and companies and we were all just rationally discussing a scientific problem with a view to solving it, with no hidden agendas or dogma getting in the way. And I told myself then we are very, very fortunate to be in this position – so many people are not.
