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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At the Baikonur Museum in the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 58 backup crew, NASA astronaut Drew Morgan of NASA and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano examine a model of a Soyuz rocket on the launch pad as part of traditional activities before a Soyuz rocket launch. They were backups to NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft commander Oleg Kononenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques. The trio were launched 3 December 2018 on the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.
Luca is returning to the International Space Station for a second mission in 2019 when he will be acting as commander of the weightless research outpost during the second part of his flight. Luca was the first of ESA’s astronauts selected in 2009 to fly to the Space Station in 2013 and stayed for 166 days. On his Volare mission Luca conducted two spacewalks and collected data for many experiments that are still running today. His second mission is called Beyond.