European Space Agency

European Space Agency or ESA (ESA; , ASE) is an international organisation with 22 member countries. Its job is to explore space. 

Its headquarters are in Paris, France. ESA has a staff of more than 2,000 with an annual budget of about €4.43 billion / US$5.51 billion (2015).

The member countries of ESA are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

ESA's space flight programme includes 
human spaceflight,  
the launch and operations of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon, 
Earth observation.
running a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana, 
designing launch vehicles. 

The main European launch vehicle Ariane 5 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs of launching and further developing this launch vehicle.

On February 21, 2024, the agency's ERS-2 satellite came into the atmosphere of the Earth.https://www.independent.co.uk/space/satellite-crash-ers-2-live-earth-where-time-b2499863.html. Retrieved 2024-02-22https://yle.fi/a/74-20075683. Retrieved 2024-02-21 The gravitational field (or gravity) of Earth [resulted] in the satellite ending up hitting the ocean. Earlier the satellite functioned (or worked) as a European Remote-Sensing Satellite.['A satellite weighing more than two tons will plunge into the atmosphere next week - parts may fall to Finland as well']. https://yle.fi/a/74-20074970. YLE.fi. Retrieved 2024-02-17

 Related pages 
Hera (space mission)
 References 

 Other websites 

 ESA website
Category:Space agencies
Category:Organizations based in Paris
Category:European organizations