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 topicA short history of ESA's Orbital Test Satellite (OTS). Launched in 1978, OTS was Europe's first multinational telecommunications satellite. At the time of this film's production, OTS had been in orbit for 10 years.OTS has provided the basis to demonstrate the capabilities of satellite technology for telecommunications. Several ground stations have been built in those years to support the groud infrastructure. In particular, Redu in Belgium and Telespazio's Fucino station in Italy are key elements of the ground segment.The role of organisations such as Eutelsat and Inmarsat is also explained in the video Subsequent telecommunications satellites, like Olympus, and systems are also outlined in the video.