| European Space Agency (ESA)
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY NEWS | | | | Info | What is ESA?
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.
ESA is an international organisation with 18 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.
What does ESA do?
ESA’s job is to draw up the European space programme and carry it through. ESA's programmes are designed to find out more about Earth, its immediate space environment, our Solar System and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services, and to promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organisations outside Europe.
Who belongs to ESA?
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada takes part in some projects under a Cooperation agreement.
Hungary, Romania, Poland, Estonia and Slovenia are ‘European Cooperating States’. Other countries have signed cooperation agreements with ESA. | |
Current news from European Space Agency (ESA)
Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/540-20120117-9487-co-SyrtisMajor_S.jpg" align="right" /> New images from ESA’s Mars Express show the Syrtis Major region on Mars. Once thought to be a sea of water, the region is now known to be a volcanic province dating back billions of years.
Watch ‘Shanghai waters’ on the Earth from Space programme
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/vlcsnap-2012-02-02-10h46m54s169_S.png" align="right" /> Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CET for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
<p><a href="http://multimedia.esa.int/latestesalive" style="color:#ff0000; float:right" target="_blank">Watch the replay</a></p>
Vega set for its inaugural flight
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/PadVega1_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> PR 2 2012 - On 13 February, the European Space Agency will perform the first qualification flight of its brand new Vega launch vehicle.
Eight more Galileo navsats agreed
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/OHB_Galileo_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> ESA today signed a contract to build a further eight Galileo satellites, alongside other agreements to modify Europe’s Ariane 5 launcher to carry four navigation satellites at a time.
Call for Media: briefing on new results from ESA Planck mission
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/SPINNING_S.jpg" align="right" /> Media representatives are invited to a briefing on new observations of the Milky Way and other galaxies by ESA's Planck mission.
Toulouse Space Show: call for papers
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/Toulouse_Space_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> ESA is a partner in the Toulouse Space Show being held 25–28 June. Experts from all over the world will gather for conferences on space applications, space and law, knowledge management for space missions, and antenna technology and applied electromagnetics.
<p>Papers are invited for presentation at the conferences; the closing date for submission of abstracts is 15 February.
Watch the replay: Earth from Space – special edition
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/vlcsnap-2012-01-31-11h08m21s80_S.png" align="right" /> Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. In this special edition, Professor Volker Liebig, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes, joins the show to discuss Earth observation for the coming year.
<p><a href="http://multimedia.esa.int/latestesalive" style="color:#ff0000; float:right" target="_blank">Watch the replay</a></p>
Voyage to the most isolated base on Earth
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/pic03722_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> Alexander Kumar, the next ESA-sponsored crewmember to stay in Concordia, has arrived safely at the research base in Antarctica. The voyage to one of the remotest places on Earth takes even longer than the voyage to the International Space Station.
Watch ‘Sahara’s end’ on the Earth from Space programme
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/vlcsnap-2012-01-26-16h34m06s232_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme. Join us every Friday at 10:00 CET for an 800 km-high tour with spectacular images from Earth-observing satellites.
<p><a href="http://multimedia.esa.int/latestesalive" style="color:#ff0000; float:right" target="_blank">Watch the replay</a></p>
First Vega rocket assembled on launch pad
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/_SC14851_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> ESA’s new Vega rocket is now fully assembled on its launch pad. Final preparations are in full swing for the rocket’s inaugural flight from Europe’s Spaceport. The launch window opens on 9 February.
Robot competition in zero-gravity
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/SPHERES_Finals_ISS_Small_small,0.jpg" align="right" /> School teams from Europe and America have been commanding robots competing in the Spheres ZeroRobotics tournament in space. The arena: 400 km above Earth on the International Space Station.
Solar storm heading toward Earth
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/ss_S,1340.jpg" align="right" /> A large solar flare yesterday triggered a coronal mass ejection travelling at 1400 km/s that will reach Earth today. An energetic eruption of this level can disrupt satellites, so operation teams at ESA and other organisations are closely monitoring the storm.
Happy New Year from space!
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/image,4.png" align="right" /> An out-of-this-world Season's Greetings from the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, including ESA's André Kuipers.
<p><a href="http://multimedia.esa.int/Videos/2011/12/Season-s-greetings-from-the-International-Space-Station" style="color:#ff0000; float:right" target="_blank">Watch online</a></p>
ESA astronaut André Kuipers arrives at the Space Station
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/007_S,6.jpg" align="right" /> ESA astronaut André Kuipers and crewmates Oleg Kononeko and Don Pettit docked today with the International Space Station in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. They will work aboard the Station now for five months and return to Earth in May.
CryoSat ice satellite rides new waves
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/Global_Windspeed_CryoSat_S.jpg" align="right" /> ESA’s CryoSat mission has been gathering detailed information on the thickness of Earth’s ice since its launch in 2010. Through international collaboration, this state-of-the-art mission is soon to be used to monitor conditions at sea for marine forecasting.
ESA astronaut André Kuipers on his way to the International Space Station
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/photo2,4.JPG" align="right" /> PR 37 2011 - After their launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 13:16 GMT (14:16 CET) today, ESA astronaut André Kuipers and crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Don Pettit are circling Earth every 90 minutes aboard the Soyuz TMA-3M spacecraft as they make their way to the International Space Station.
Star images helping to save Vatican books
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/Salone_lettura_S.jpg" align="right" /> Antique books in the Vatican Library are being digitised to preserve them for future generations using a technique developed through ESA to store satellite images of the sky.
Vega to fly ESA experimental reentry vehicle
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/IXV_reentry_small,2.bmp" align="right" /> The launch of ESA’s IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle on Europe’s new Vega rocket is now in detailed planning, a major step towards the craft’s flight in 2014.
ESA Director General to meet the press in Paris
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/Dordain_S.jpg" align="right" /> PR 36 2011 - On Monday 9 January, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain will meet the press at the traditional start-of-year gathering at ESA's headquarters in Paris.
Vega moves closer to its first liftoff
<img src="http://www.esa.int/images/Z23assembly0016_small,0.JPG" align="right" /> The integration of Vega’s first, second and third stages is now complete at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The new rocket is moving full speed ahead towards its maiden flight at the end of January.
| | | 
| |
Close European Space Agency (ESA)
View astronomy entries in : Astronomy Information & Education, Astronomy News UK & General
Back to main directory | |
|
|
