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 Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate monitoring (AMR-C) being integrated on to the Copernicus Sentinel-6A satellite. The photo shows teams at Airbus in Friedrichshafen, Germany, lowering the instrument on to the satellite prior to mechanical mounting and alignment checks. As part of the international cooperation for this mission, the radiometer has been supplied by NASA JPL. The satellite’s main instrument is a radar altimeter to measure sea-surface height. The radiometer accounts for the amount of water vapour in atmosphere, which affects the speed of the altimeter’s radar pulses. Copernicus Sentinel-6 will be a two-satellite constellation to monitor global sea level to understand long-term climate variations. Importantly, the mission will continue the measurements that have been supplied by the Topex-Poseidon and Jason missions since the 1990s