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 James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) joins the Hubble Space Telescope in the line of great space observatories. Both space observatories have different capabilities and will operate in synergy, complementing each other.
Webb is 100 times more sensitive than Hubble, and by observing in the infrared, it will open up a new window to the Universe. The increased sensitivity is due to its much larger light collecting area (mirror).
Webb’s sensitivity to longer wavelengths allows it to peer inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming, reveal the composition of exoplanets' atmospheres in more detail, and look farther back in time to see the first stars and galaxies that formed in the early Universe.
Learn more about the differences between Webb and Hubble here.
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.