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 topicHerschel - the biggest space telescope ever ESA TV Exchanges With its 3,5 meter mirror and cryogenic science payload, the Herschel Space Observatory will deliver unprecedented images and spectra of very cool, distant, and poorly known objects in the universe. As the first of a new generation of space telescopes, Herschel will be studying stars being born in our own Galaxy, the evolution of newborn galaxies billions of light-years away, and primitive objects dating from the formation of our own solar system. Herschel will provide unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, thanks to the largest mirror ever used in space and three instruments with detectors kept at temperatures close to absolute zero.