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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ESA’s fifth Earth Explorer, Aeolus was tasked with the extraordinarily challenging and pioneering feat of measuring global winds from space, using a laser.
On 30 April 2023, all nominal operations of Aeolus will conclude in preparation for a series of end-of-life activities.
The finishing touches to the end-of-life schedule will be made over the coming weeks and a timeline will be announced in due course. In the meantime, Aeolus will provide data as usual up to the end of operations on 30 April 2023. While no new operational data will be gathered after 30 April, the mission's existing data will still be available to users.
In this overview video, ESA's mission manager, Tommaso Parrinello, describes the successes and challenges of this amazing mission, whose impacts will live long beyond its lifetime in space.