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 topicAMS - Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer- is a payload that will be attached to the International Space Station with a unique task: search the unknown, look at dark matter, hunt antimatter, in brief discover the invisible: what we can't see but still represents 90% of the universe..
ESA is supporting this mission designed by Nobel laureate particle physicist Samuel Ting team with the participation of Institutes from 16 countries.
AMS, mostly made in Europe, assembled at CERN and tested at ESTEC, is planned to be sent to the ISS by the Space Shuttle early next year.