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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Some 30 years ago, the barren landscape of Saudi Arabia’s Wadi As Sirhan basin looked like any other desert. But over time, satellites such as the US Landsats and Copernicus Sentinels saw the area transform into a vast cropland.
The fields are fed by fossil water pumped from deep underground and distributed by central-pivot irrigation systems, where long water pipes rotate around a well at the centre, creating the circular features. Created thousands of years ago when the region received more rainfall, these water reserves enable agriculture in today’s desert, but experts say this resource will eventually be exhausted.