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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This artist concept portrays the star PDS 70 and its inner protoplanetary disc. New measurements from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) have indicated the presence of water vapour in the inner disc of the system PDS 70, located 370 light-years away. This is the first detection of water in the terrestrial region of a disc already known to host two or more protoplanets, one of which is shown at upper right.
[Image description: Left of center, a bright light source illuminates a surrounding disc colored dusky red. The disc is tilted from upper left to lower right, and has spiral features that are most prominent near the star. Small, rocky objects are scattered throughout the inner disc. At upper right, there is a gap through which background stars can be seen. At the outer edge of this gap is gaseous planet. Beyond it, in the top right corner, is additional outer disc material, some of which is falling onto the planet.]