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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The Politethers team from Politecnico di Milano during the 2016 Fly Your Thesis! programme parabolic flight campaign in the Novespace A310 Zero-G aircraft. The team investigated how a tether strained between two satellites would behave in weightlessness, and what control strategies and algorithms for the tether would be most suitable to allow a “space tug” to execute “orbital towing” manoeuvres to deorbit other satellites. The experiment showed very promising results at first sight, and now the arduous work of 3D data image analysis starts for the team.
Read more about the team's experiment here