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
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
This image shows human activity, including cargo ships, tankers, passenger ships and fishing vessels, in the Atlantic Ocean. Shipping activity was obtained from Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, while fishing activity is based on fishing intensity estimates from the Global Fishing Watch initiative (GFW). Both datasets are from 2014. Economic exclusive zones (EEZ) are shown in grey. EEZs are areas of ocean, beyond any nation’s territorial sea, within which a nation has sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
Read full story: Protecting ocean biodiversity with satellite data