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 Cheops satellite, installed on the flight adapter ring that will serve as interface with the launcher vehicle at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The photo was taken on 28 November, prior to the encapsulation the satellite into the the Souyuz Arianespace System for Auxiliary Payloads (ASAP-S), which is used to integrate the main passenger, Cheops and the Cubesats into the launcher.Scheduled for launch on 17 December, Cheops is ESA’s first mission dedicated to the study of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets. It will observe bright stars that are already known to host planets, measuring minuscule brightness changes due to the planet’s transit across the star’s disc.