European Space Agency (ESA), multinational agency dedicated to the promotion, for exclusively peaceful purposes, of cooperation among European states in space research and technology. Member states include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; Canada, the Czech Republic, and Hungary participate in selected ESA programs. The financial contribution of each member is determined by the projects it wishes to support, and no member may undertake a project without inviting ESA's participation.

The headquarters of ESA are in Paris, with four major ESA facilities in other countries. The European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC), located at Noordwijk, the Netherlands, is the primary research center and manages the satellite projects. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC), located at Darmstadt, Germany, is responsible for satellite control, monitoring, and data retrieval. The European Space Research Institute (ESRIN), located at Frascati, Italy, supports the ESA documentation service and manages the data obtained from remote sensing satellites. The European Astronaut Center (EAC), located at Cologne, Germany, is responsible for the selection and training of astronauts for space station missions. In addition to the major centers, ESA operates sounding-rocket launch stations in Norway and Sweden, a meteorological program office at Toulon, France, and satellite tracking stations in Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Major ESA programs include the development of the Ariane rockets used to launch most ESA satellites from a pad at Kourou, French Guiana. ESA developed the Spacelab scientific workshop, which has been transported into space several times by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial),
..... Click the link for more information. 's (NASA) space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Giotto space probe, which in a 1986 flyby examined the nucleus of Halley's comet Halley's comet or Comet Halley , periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607. Halley did not live to see its return in 1758, close to the time he predicted.
..... Click the link for more information. ; and the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) and ISO (Infrared Space Observatory) orbiting observatories observatory, orbiting, research satellite designed to study solar radiation, electromagnetic radiation from distant stars, the earth's atmosphere, or the like.
..... Click the link for more information. , launched in 1995. A system of meteorological satellites, called Meteosat, has also been established. Eleven member nations of ESA are also participating with Brazil, Canada, Japan, Russia, and the United States in the International Space Station project (see space station space station or space platform, artificial earth satellite, usually manned, that is placed in a fixed orbit and can serve as a base for astronomical observations; zero-gravity materials processing; satellite assembly, refueling, and repair; or,
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Arianespace, the first commercial space transportation company and a division of ESA, now conducts more than half of all commercial satellite launches.

The foundation of ESA was laid with the formation of the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) in 1962 and of the European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) in 1964. ESRO consisted of ten European countries and Australia, which placed its rocket-firing range at Woomera at the organization's disposal; between 1968 and 1972 seven ESRO satellites—Iris (ESRO-2B), Aurorae (ESRO-1A), HEOS-1, BOREAS, HEOS-2, TD-1A, and ESRO-4—were launched on NASA rockets. ELDO, which consisted of seven European countries, developed Kourou's Equatorial Space Range. Intending to build the Europa 1 multistage launch vehicle—combining a British first stage, a French second stage, and a German third stage—to orbit an Italian satellite, ELDO was unsuccessful primarily because of organizational problems. By 1975 it was obvious that a new approach was required, and ESRO and ELDO were merged to form ESA.

European Space Agency (ESA )

French Agence Spatiale Européenne

Western European space and space-technology research organization headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members are Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Canada, through a special cooperative agreement, participates in some projects. The ESA developed the Ariane series of space launch vehicles, and it supports a launch facility in French Guiana. It has launched a system of meteorological satellites (Meteosat) as well as the Giotto space probe, which examined the nucleus of Halley's Comet, and Hipparcos, a satellite that measured the parallaxes, positions, and proper motions of more than 100,000 stars. It is also a participant in the construction of the International Space Station.

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No references found			A satellite sent into orbit to study the effects of global warming has successfully deployed three antenna arms that will track the oceans, the European Space Agency said Tuesday. Global warming satellite deploys antennas by AFP / AFP Global Edition The shuttle is carrying a new £1bn laboratory called Columbus, built by the European Space Agency, that will be bolted permanently to the space station this week. Shuttle set to dock its £1bn lab at 17,500 mph by guardian.co.uk / guardian.co.uk That mission resulted in the spacecraft known as Cassini, which carried a probe called Huygens that was developed by the European Space Agency. Saturn: A New View by Science News			European Development Fund European Economic Area European Economic Community European Foulbrood European Free Trade Association European Free Trade Association EFTA European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System European Grape Moth European hornbeam European Investment Bank European Launcher Development Organization European Monetary Agreement European Monetary System European Mudminnow European Organization for Nuclear Research European Parliament European Payments Union European Physical Society EPS European Pikeperch European porcelain European Recovery Program European Red Mite European Sea Bass European Social Fund European Southern Observatory European Space Agency European Space Operations Center European Space Research and Technology Center European Space Research Institute European Space Research Organization European Strategic Programme for Research in Information Technology European Telecommunications Standards Institute European Union European Wildcat Europeoid Race europium europium halide europium oxide Europoort Europus Eurospace Eurotiaceae Eurotiales Eurovision Eurus Euryalae Euryale and Stheno Euryalina Euryapsida eurybathic Eurybathic Animal			European Solar Industry Federation European Solar Magnetism Network European Solar Test Installation European Solar Thermal Energy Conference European Solar Thermal Industry Association European Solar Thermal Industry Federation European Solar Thermal Technology Platform European sole European Solid Board Organisation European Solid-State Circuits Conference European Solid-State Device Research Conference European Solidarity Towards Equal Participation of People European Solutions Business Centre European Solvents Industry Group European Solvents Volatile Organic Compounds Co-Ordination Group European Song Contest European Sonotherapy Prevention of Arterial Hyperplasia European sousliks European sousliks European South African Corvette Consortium European South African Science and Technology Advancement Programme European Southern Border in Real, Remote and Virtual Time European Southern Observatory European Southern Observatory European Southern Observatory European Southern Observatory Munich Image Data Analysis System European Southern Observatory Scientific Preprints European Space Agency European Space Agency - Information Retrieval Service European Space Agency - Information Retrieval System European Space Agency Environmental Satellite European Space Agency Journal European Space Agency Remote Satellite European Space Agency Research and Scientific Support Department European Space and Technology Center European Space Astronomy Centre European Space Components Coordination European Space Components Information Exchange System European Space Conference European Space Elevator Challenge European Space Exposure Facility European Space Industry Directory European Space Mechanisms and Tribology Symposium European Space Operations Center European Space Operations Centre European Space Operations Centre European Space Physical Science Panel European Space Policy Institute European Space Power Conference European Space Project Operations Control Center European Space Research and Technology Center European Space Research and Technology Center European Space Research and Technology Centre European Space Research and Technology Centre European Space Research Institute European Space Research Institute