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
Go to topicESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his colleagues Randy Bresnik of NASA and Sergei Ryazansky of Roscosmos returned to Earth from the International Space Station on 14 December in their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft landing at 08:37 GMT.
The ride home from the International Space Station saw the trio brake from 28 800 km/h to a standstill at touchdown in barely three hours.
Tempus Pro, a portable vital-signs monitor capable of telemedicine via satellite, is helping medics at ESA astronaut landings. Thomas Pesquet was the first to benefit following his Proxima mission.
At Paolo Nespoli's landing a set of features of this device including the ultrasound probe, developed during the ESA Amazon project, were used under the harsh Kazakh winter conditions.
Remote Diagnostic Technologies in the UK developed the Tempus device with funding and support from the Business Applications part of ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme.