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 topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
Mission teams at ESA's ESOC operations centre in Germany worked around the clock in the days following the launch of the wind mission, Aeolus. This period, known as the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), sees flight controllers, satellite engineers and experts in flight dynamics work non-stop to gradually switch on the satellite’s various control systems and verify its health.
This image was taken in ESA's Main Control Room on the night of the launch, as control teams began to take over control of the spacecraft from the launchsite in Kourou, French Guiana.