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 sliver of Earth seen from Astrobotic's Peregrine in space.
The Peregrine lunar lander launched towards the Moon on 8 January at 07:18 GMT on the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket. Around 50 minutes after the launch and 500 km above the Earth’s surface, Peregrine separated from the rocket and powered on. Initially, the mission planned for the lander to touchdown on the lunar surface on 23 February, delivering scientific instruments to the Gruithuisen Domes region near the north pole of the Moon. These instruments included the Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) of which ESA’s Exospheric Mass Spectrometer (EMS) is the heart. PITMS was designed to sniff the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere to chart its chemical composition.