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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Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission in August 2024, this image showcases Sodankylä in Finnish Lapland. The high-latitude location is excellent for receiving data from polar orbiting satellites.
Deep in the boreal forest, Sodankylä is already home to the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s Arctic Space Centre – a unique research infrastructure providing in situ and ground-based observations on the interaction between the Earth’s surface, biosphere and the atmosphere. Now, ESA and the institute are exploring the possibility of expanding this facility to a ‘supersite’ for the calibration and validation of measurements taken by satellites and to test instruments in development that could, in the future, be carried on satellites.
Read full story: ESA and Finland pave the way towards a supersite for Earth observation