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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Reliable, high frequency stability, space-qualified clocks with reduced size, mass and power consumption, will play a key role in future Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) deployments, as well as in other applications including satellite communications and deep space navigation. A GSTP Element 2 activity with Italy, which closed in October 2020, has further developed a Rubidium Pulsed Optically Pumped (Rb-POP) clock for this purpose. The activity produced two engineering models that will now undergo an extensive test campaign. The activity intends to achieve a space qualification of the full clock by 2021 and readiness for an experimental flight opportunity by 2023.