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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Humanity is heading back to the Moon, and this time, we’re planning to stay. But for long-term space missions, astronauts would need infrastructure to live and work, to move around, to communicate with Earth, and to produce oxygen and water vital for survival. Taking all this infrastructure from Earth would likely be prohibitively expensive. Instead, we need to figure out how to make it on site. ESA Discovery & Preparation has supported many studies to explore how we can do this.
Find out more and explore the interactive version of this infographic here.