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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The Italian city of Milan replaced its orange sodium lamps with white led lamps in 2015. These nighttime images from the International Space Station show the city before (2012, left) and after the conversion (2015, right).
The green rectangles are the reference regions for the differential photometry, and the polygon represents the municipality of Milan.