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!
Radar image from Japan’s ALOS-2 satellite of the sea ice near the Polarstern icebreaker. Polarstern is drifting in the Arctic sea ice for a year for the MOSAiC polar research expedition. During the polar winter, the researchers use radar satellite images such as this to monitor the sea ice in the surrounding area. In this false-colour image, which was acquired on 19 November 2019, dark blue cracks show open water leads or thin ice between the ice floes. The white filament-like structures are typically sea-ice ridges or other deformed sea ice.