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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A downward view of ESA’s rock-strewn recreation of the Red Planet, designed to put prototype planetary rovers through their paces.
Officially part of the Planetary Robotics Laboratory at the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the nickname of this test site is the ‘Mars Yard’.
An 9 x 9 m square filled with sand and different types of gravel and rocks, it is used to assess rover locomotion and navigation as well as the traction of wheels and other mechanisms – then check how these elements work together in practice, with tests observed using precision cameras and sensors.
The Planetary Robotics Lab is part of a suite of more than 35 ESA laboratories focused on all aspects of space engineering, available to wider European Member States companies as well as ESA projects.