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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Phytoplankton, plant-like organisms, floating on the ocean surface support the marine food chain. They also play a vital role in absorbing roughly 50 Gigatonnes of carbon from Earth’s atmosphere each year – equivalent to net production by plants on land. Monitoring the green tinged seawater containing these photosynthetic creatures is an important part of our efforts to understand Earth’s climate.
Shubha Sathyendranath of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory is a leading climate scientist working with ESA. Shubha explores how ESA’s Climate Change Initiative is taking advantage of the observational power of satellites to understand ocean change.