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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Jupiter’s legendary Great Red Spot takes centre stage in this view. Though this vortex is big enough to swallow Earth, it has actually shrunk to the smallest size it has ever been according to observation records dating back 150 years. Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede can be seen transiting the giant planet at lower right. Slightly larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System. It is a cratered world and has a mainly water-ice surface with apparent glacial flows driven by internal heat. This image was taken on 6 January 2023.
Ganymede is the main target of ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice). As humanity’s next bold mission to the outer Solar System, Juice will complete numerous flybys around Ganymede, and eventually enter orbit around the moon. The mission will explore various key topics: Ganymede’s mysterious magnetic field, its hidden ocean, its complex core, its ice content and shell, its interactions with its local environment and that of Jupiter, its past and present activity, and whether or not the moon could be a habitable environment.
[Image description: Jupiter looms large in this image. Set against a black background, the planet is banded in stripes of brownish orange, light gray, soft yellow, and shades of cream. White and cream coloured ovals punctuate the planet at all latitudes. The icy moon Ganymede appears as a gray, mottled orb crossing the face of Jupiter.]