European Space Agency
science, technology
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| Europe's answer to NASA |
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organisation devoted to space exploration. The ESA has its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023. ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2025 annual budget was €7.7 billion.
The ESA human spaceflight programme includes participation in the International Space Station (ISS) and collaboration with NASA on the Artemis programme, especially manufacturing of the Orion spacecraft's European Service Module (ESM).
ESA launches and operates uncrewed missions to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, and various comets and asteroids.
Other activities include space telescopes (e.g. Gaia#Spacecraft), Earth observation satellites, asteroid impact avoidance, telecommunication and navigation satellites, designing launch vehicles (e.g. Ariane 6 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs), and maintaining Europe's Spaceport (the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana), as well as space safety and commercialisation.[1]
References
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