ESA - European Space Agency

EMBL www.esa.int

The European Space Agency 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 people of Europe.

ESA has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada has special status and participates in some projects under a cooperation agreement. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. ESA is an entirely independent organisation, although it maintains close ties with the European Union with whom it shares a joint space strategy.

ESA's job is to draw up the European space plan and carry it through. The Agency's projects are designed to find out more about the Earth, its immediate space environment, the Solar System and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organisations outside Europe to share the benefits of space with the whole of mankind.

ESA has its headquarters in Paris and it is here that future projects are decided upon. However, ESA also has centres throughout Europe, each of which has different responsibilities: Its responsibilities include collecting, storing and distributing satellite data to ESA's partners and acting as the Agency's information technology centre. In addition, ESA has liaison offices in the United States, Russia and Belgium, ground and tracking stations in various parts of the world, and supports a launch base in French Guiana. ESA's mandatory activities are funded by a financial contribution from all the Agency's Member States, calculated in accordance with each country's gross national product. In addition, ESA conducts a number of optional programmes. Each country decides in which optional programme it wishes to participate and the amount of its contribution.

ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre, is the design hub for most ESA spacecraft and is situated in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, is responsible for controlling ESA satellites in orbit. EAC, the European Astronaut Centre, trains astronauts for future missions and is situated in Cologne, Germany. ESRIN, the European Space Research Institute, is situated in Frascati, near Rome in Italy.

Its responsibilities include collecting, storing and distributing satellite data to ESA's partners and acting as the Agency's information technology centre.

In addition, ESA has liaison offices in the United States, Russia and Belgium, ground and tracking stations in various parts of the world, and supports a launch base in French Guiana.

ESA's mandatory activities are funded by a financial contribution from all the Agency's Member States, calculated in accordance with each country's gross national product. In addition, ESA conducts a number of optional programmes. Each country decides in which optional programme it wishes to participate and the amount of its contribution.