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 topicThis video promotes the Meteosat-9 satellite prior to it being launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on 21 Dec 2005. It gives a brief description of the Meteosat series of meteorological satellites (operated by EUMETSAT) over the past 30 years, highlighting the important role they have played in TV weather forecasts. It outlines how weather forecasts have evolved from black and white photos to sophisticated computer graphics on TV, and now appear online, can be tailored to specific locations and sent to mobile phones. With global climate change a reality, extreme weather events (such as floods, heatwaves, fires, etc.) will become more frequent, so weather data matters. The camera on Meteosat can see half the globe and the entire Atlantic Ocean in a single picture. Meteosat-9 guarantess data every 15 minutes.