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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To form a stable solar eclipse from the Occulter to the Coronagraph for a planned six hours at a time, the pair has to maintain formation to a precision of a single millimetre, about the same thickness as the average fingernail.
The pair does this autonomously, employing a suite of sensors. Star trackers and satellite navigation are supplemented by inter-satellite radio links, optical cameras tracing LEDs, a laser bounced back via retroreflectors and finally shadow sensors surrounding the ASPIICS aperture.