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 topicNot available
Pix: Globe seen from Space Station and Shuttle
(1) Ever since the first spaceflights, man has been eager to travel into space himself. Not only as a heroic act of exploring the universe, but to perform scientific experiments in space as well.
Pix: Crew of STS 107 + Kalpana Chawla working in zero G 00.00.20 (2)
After the tragic loss of the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia, and the death of seven astronauts, critics now question the value of manned spaceflight. However, astronauts canÕt be fully replaced by robots, as some suggest. There will always be a need for humans to control and monitor experiments in space.
Interview 00.00.40 (3)
Feustel-B?echl: The Humans in space are important to make corrections of systems that are not working. I just remember, that for instance with the shuttle, there have been malfunctioning satellites retrieved. You could never do that with a robot.
Pix: De Winne slurping up spheres (bubbles) of water in zero G 00.01.05 (4)
This point of view is shared by Frank De Winn