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
Go to topicESA astronaut Luca Parmitano's second mission to the International Space Station
Launched on Saturday 20 July – the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing – ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano returned to space for a second six-month mission to the International Space Station.
Throughout his mission Luca worked on over 200 experiments and technology demonstrations that will aid our next steps into space. He was an integral part of a series of spacewalks planned to service the anti-matter hunter AMS-02 and the first European astronaut to lead a spacewalk.
Launch: 20 July 2019 16:28 GMT
Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Spacecraft: Soyuz MS-13
Expeditions: 60/61
Docking: 6 hours after launch at 22:47 GMT
Crewmates: NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov
Landing: 6 February 09:12 GMT