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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Photograph of flight hardware, showing a cluster of four colloid thrusters. Two such clusters form the actuators of the Disturbance Reduction System (DRS) on LISA Pathfinder.
Each colloid thruster can deliver a continuously modulated force of between 5 µN and 30 µN. The two clusters of colloid thrusters are controlled by the Instrument Avionics Unit (IAU), which is the dedicated computer of the DRS (see related images). The DRS is provided by NASA/JPL.