page_title: European Space Operations Centre
section_title: Location and expansion
hierarchical_section_title: European Space Operations Centre / Location and expansion
caption_attribution_description: English: Main Gate of ESOC at Robert-Bosch-Straße in Darmstadt with the new building and the ESA member state flags.
context_page_description: The European Space Operations Centre serves as the main mission control centre for the European Space Agency and is located in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC's primary function is the operation of unmanned spacecraft on behalf of ESA and the launch and early orbit phases of ESA and third-party missions. The Centre is also responsible for a range of operations-related activities within ESA and in cooperation with ESA's industry and international partners, including ground systems engineering, software development, flight dynamics and navigation, development of mission control tools and techniques and space debris studies.
  ESOC's current major activities comprise operating planetary and solar missions, such as Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, astronomy & fundamental physics missions, such as Gaia and XMM Newton, and Earth observation missions such as CryoSat2 and Swarm.
  ESOC is responsible for developing, operating and maintaining ESA's ESTRACK network of ground stations.
context_section_description: ESOC is located on the west side of the city of Darmstadt, some 500 m (1,600 ft) from the main train station, at Robert-Bosch-Straße 5. In 2011, ESA announced the first phase of the ESOC II modernisation and expansion project valued at €60 million. The new construction will be located across Robert-Bosch-Straße, opposite the current centre.
caption: European Space Operations Centre
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