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
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Highlights of launch preparations to liftoff and weightlessness. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, Russian Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 28 May 2013. All three will be part of the Station’s Expedition 36/37 crew.
Luca’s mission is named ‘Volare’ – ‘to fly’ in Italian – to symbolise the search for new frontiers and opportunities for discovery. The spacecraft lifted off from Baikonur spaceport at 20:31:24 GMT and reached orbit nine minutes later. In under six hours while orbiting Earth four times the Soyuz docked with the Rassvet module on the International Space Station.