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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Experience the spacecraft control centre of the future in this short video visualisation from the facility’s architect.
Teams at ESA’s ESOC mission control centre fly ESA’s spacecraft to Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and the Sun, operate leading space observatories such as Euclid and Gaia, and control a fleet of ESA Earth Explorers and European Union Sentinel satellites. As the number and complexity of missions flown from ESOC grows, the centre faces new challenges. ESA has signed a contract for the development of a new satellite control facility at the ESOC site that will provide the capability to support at least two launches or critical operations in parallel. It will also host a modernised, energy-efficient and high-availability data centre for the centre’s critical Mission Operations Information Technology and will provide an attractive and modern workplace that facilitates team collaboration while remaining extremely adaptable and capable of keeping up with the rapidly evolving domain of satellite operations.