European Space Agency
| |
Logo | |
European Space Agency headquarters in Paris | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation |
|
| Formed | 30 May 1975 |
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Paris, France 48°50′54″N 02°18′15″E / 48.84833°N 2.30417°E |
| Official language | English, French and German (working languages)[1][2] |
| Administrator | Josef Aschbacher (Director General of the European Space Agency) |
| Primary spaceport | Guiana Space Centre |
| Owners | |
| Employees | 2,547 (2023)[3] |
| Annual budget | €7.68 billion (US$9.08 billion) (2025)[4] |
| Website | esa.int |
The European Space Agency (ESA)[a] is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration.[7] It 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.[4]
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, 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.
- ^ "Languages". Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ esa. "Frequently asked questions". Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "ESA facts". European Space Agency. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ a b "ESA budget 2025". www.esa.int.
- ^ "Annex 1 Resolution 8". ESA Convention and Council Rules of Procedure (PDF) (5th ed.). European Space Agency. March 2010. p. 116. ISBN 978-92-9092-965-9. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ "Agence spatiale européenne (ASE)" [European Space Agency (ESA)]. 23 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ "Welcome to ESA: New Member States". ESA. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
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