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 topicAt the very beginning of aerospace medical research in the thirties, scientists were eager to find out what effects centrifugal forces and microgravity have on the human body. Early investigations witch used animals, before the first parabolic flights with humans on board were undertaken. The dog Laika, who was sent to space in a capsule and lived inside it for several days in zero gravity. The first humans were then sent to space to expierience the state of weightlessness and explore its long-term effects on their own bodies. At the same time parabolic flights were used to create microgravity for intensive research in the fields of material sciences, physics, bio-mechanics and liquid gases.