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 22 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
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Little did President Charles de Gaulle imagine how far Europe's cooperation with Russia would eventually stretch when he coined the phrase "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Oural".
Some 50 years later, this cooperation now extends across the Atlantic to French Guiana.
On October 20 the first Soyuz rocket to liftoff from the European Spaceport will be a historic event. The legendary Russian launcher will be lofting the first pair of Galileo satellites for Europe's satellite navigation system called Galileo.
This A & B-Roll explains the origins and reasons of the Soyuz in French Guiana and includes interviews with:
- ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain
- Yannick D'Escatha, President of the French Space Agency CNES
- Vladimir Popovkin, Head of the Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS