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!
Parts of the Mediterranean and central Europe have experienced extreme temperatures this summer, with wildfires causing devastation in both Turkey and Greece. The blaze on Evia, Greece’s second-largest island, is one of the worst hit with fires having burned down large forested areas, homes and businesses – forcing thousands to evacuate by sea to save their lives.
This false-colour Copernicus Sentinel-2 image was captured yesterday on 11 August, and has been processed in a way that included the near-infrared channel which is usually used to highlight vegetation (visible in bright red). The image shows the extent of the burned area (visible in shades of brown and green) in the northern part of the island which has suffered the most damage, with an estimated 50 000 hectares lost.
The blaze, fuelled by strong winds, began on 3 August and is still ongoing, with hundreds of firefighters currently tackling the flames.
The heatwave has seen some countries record their highest temperature in decades, with the Italian island of Sicily registering 48.8°C, which may be Europe’s hottest temperature on record. Wildfires have also been raging in other parts of Greece, Italy, Albania and Algeria, prompting activations in the Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service. The mapping service uses data from satellites to aid response to disasters such as wildfires and floods.