European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1975 to coordinate and strengthen Europe's civil space programme. ESA works through 23 Member States, with associate and cooperating states also participating in selected programmes, so it can pool resources for projects beyond the reach of any single European country. Its work spans space science, Earth observation, telecommunications, satellite navigation, launch systems, space safety, technology development, mission operations, and human and robotic exploration. ESA's headquarters are in Paris, with specialist centres across Europe including ESTEC for technical work, ESOC for mission operations, EAC for astronaut training, ESRIN for Earth-observation activity, ESAC for space astronomy, and the Guiana Space Centre as Europe's spaceport. In human spaceflight and exploration, ESA contributes to International Space Station operations, European astronaut missions, the Columbus laboratory, and Artemis-era systems such as Orion's European Service Module.