EUROPE IN SPACE

ESA IN BRIEF

Europe, seen by Envisat

ESA IN BRIEFLong-standing experience

ESA’s creation in 1975

17 Member States 5 establishments, 1900 staff3 billion euros per year (2007)

More than 60 satellites developedMore than 10 scientific satellites in operation

5 launchers developedmore than 170 launches conducted

ESA IN BRIEF Member States

ESA has 17 Member States – with more on the way

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Canada participates in some projects under a special cooperation agreement.

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania are participating in PECS (Plan for European Cooperating States). Also, Poland is joining this initiative, while Estonia is establishing a cooperation agreement with ESA.

ESTECNoordwijk, the NetherlandsEuropean Space Research & Technology Centre

ESA IN BRIEFESA establishments and centres

ESOC Darmstadt, GermanyEuropean Space Operations Centre

ESRIN Frascati, ItalyEuropean Space Research Institute

HEADQUARTERS Paris, France ESA Headquarters houses- the Director General’s office, - general administration and - certain programme directorates.

ESAC Villafranca, SpainEuropean Space Astronomy Centre

EACCologne, GermanyEuropean Astronaut Centre

ESA IN BRIEF ESA programmes

- Scientific programme

- Earth Observation programmes

- Launcher programmes

- Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration programmes

- Telecommunications and Navigation programmes

APPROVED PROGRAMMES €2944.246m

PROGRAMMES FINANCED BY THIRD PARTIES €28.853m

EUROPEAN COOPERATING STATES AGREEMENT €2.297m

TOTAL BUDGETS FOR 2007 €2975.396m

ESA IN BRIEFBudgets for 2007, breakdown by

programmes

General Budget7%, €200mAssociated to General Budget5%, €158m

Scientific Programme 13%, €386mEarth Observation15%, €437m

Telecommunications8%, €240m Navigation 9%, €279m

Financed by 3rd Parties 1%, €29mEuropean Coop. States0.08%, €2m Technology3%, €96m Launchers 22%, €627m

Human Spaceflight & Exploration14%, €428m Microgravity 3%, €92m

ESA IN BRIEF ESA’s industrial policy

a) Meet the requirements of the European Space Programme in a cost efficient manner

b) Improve the worldwide competitiveness of European industry by maintaining and developing space technology

c) Ensure that all Member States participate in an equitable manner, having regard to their financial contribution, in implementing the European Space Programme

d) Exploit the advantages of free competitive bidding

EUROPEAN HIGHLIGHTS IN SPACE

Ariane 5 launch.

SPACE SCIENCE:Cosmic Vision

The Scientific Programme is a mandatory programme of the Agency.

Its mandate is to define and implement a space science programme fulfilling the needs of Europe’s scientific community.

This programme defines the scientific satellites, the scientific objectives and the means to achieve these objectives.

It is now called “Cosmic Vision”.

Our solar system.

SPACE SCIENCE:Cosmic Vision

Themes:

How does the Solar System work?

What are the conditions for life & planetary formation?

What are the fundamental laws of the Universe?

How did the Universe originate and what is itmade of?

Hubble Space Telescope image of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

HUYGENS LANDING ON TITAN:A historic achievement

The most striking success story in space in recent years is Huygens’ landing on Saturn’s moon Titan, 1.3 billion kilometres from Earth.

In-situ sampling has confirmed the presence of a complex organic chemistry in the atmosphere. This adds weight to the idea that Titan is a promising place in which to observe chemical pathways involving molecules that may have been the building blocks of life on Earth.

Huygens (artist’s impression).

MARS EXPRESS: First-class science from orbit

Canyons on Mars. Image: ESA, DLR, FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

Contributions to Europe as a knowledge-based society also stimulate excellence in technology development.

ESA’s solar system missions widen our horizons, providing intriguing scientific results that fascinate the public.

Mars Express is one of ESA’splanetary missions serving the scientific community. It also represents enormous technological challenges. Among other instruments onboard: a high-tech stereo camera providing images of the highest quality.

VENUS EXPRESS: Studying our nearest planetary neighbour

Venus Express (artist’s impression).

Venus Express was built around the design of Mars Express, making it quicker and cheaper to develop. In particular, Venus Express studies the Venusian atmosphere and clouds in unprecedented detail and accuracy. Understanding the climate of Venus can help us understand Earth’s changing climate as well.

SMART-1 TO THE MOON:Innovative propulsion and onboard

intelligence

SMART-1 approaching the moon.

SMART-1 (2003-2006) was the first ESA mission to the moon and has provided significant scientific results.

Furthermore, SMART-1 served as a demonstrator for innovative technologies such as ion propulsion, miniaturised payloads and local intelligence (auto-guidance system) on board.

SPACE SCIENCE:Missions under preparation – overview 1

Gaia will conduct a census of one thousand million stars in our Galaxy. It will monitor each of its target stars about 100 times over a five-year period, precisely charting their distances, movements, and changes in brightness. It is expected to discover hundreds of thousands of new celestial objects.

Consisting of two orbiters, BepiColombo will provide the most complete exploration yet of Mercury, the innermost planet of our solar system. One component of BepiColombo will map the planet and a second will investigate its magnetosphere.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and will be almost three times as big. JWST has been designed to work best at infrared wavelengths. This will allow it to study the very distant Universe, looking for the first stars and galaxies that ever emerged.

SPACE SCIENCE:Missions under preparation – overview 2

Planck will look back at the dawn of time, close to the Big Bang, and will observe the most ancient radiation in the Universe, known as the 'cosmic microwave background'. Planck will analyse this for clues about how clusters of galaxies and even individual galaxies formed.

Herschel will be the largest space telescope of its kind. Its 3.5-metre diameter mirror will collect long-wavelength infrared radiation from some of the coolest and most distant objects in the Universe. Herschel will be the only space observatory to cover the range from far-infrared to submillimetre wavelengths.

LISA Pathfinder will test the general concepts and technologies needed for highly precise formation flying and accurate measurement of the separation between two very distant spacecraft. This technology is essential for future ESA missions, such as LISA, which aim to detect subtle gravitational waves.

EARTH OBSERVATION: Information of increasing importance

Snow-capped tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, seen by Envisat.

Earth Observation and meteorology satellites deliver information of drastically increasing importance for both ecology and the economy – ranging, in the short term, from disaster prevention and precise weather forecastingto, in the long term, data providing the basis for sustainable development.

It also includes information of strategic importance with a view to our security.

METEOROLOGY MSG-2 and MetOp in orbit

The Earth. Image by Eumetsat.

To date, nine Meteosat satellites have been successfully launched into geostationary orbit.

The most recent, Meteosat Second Generation 2 (MSG-2), has been in orbit since its launch in December 2005. The first weather satellite to operate in polar orbit, MetOp, was launched in October 2006.

NAVIGATION: Galileo

Galileo (artist’s impression).

Galileo is a joint effort between ESA and the EU.

The global satellite navigation system will put Europe at the forefront of this strategically and economically important sector.

Galileo is expected to generate countless applications and more than 100,000 highly qualified jobs in Europe.

The first Galileo satellite, GIOVE-A, has been in orbit since December 2005.

ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION:A unique platform for research

Europe’s participation in the ISS programme offers unique opportunities for research in microgravity, adding value to science on Earth – as an extended part of ground-based research and industry infrastructures.

In addition, human spaceflight increases the interest of students in science and high technology.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION:Highlights in 2007

In the framework of the ISS programme, several highlights are scheduled for 2007:

Launch of the first ATV

Mission STS-120 with delivery of Node-2

ESA’s main contribution to the ISS, the Columbus laboratory scheduled for launch

ISS seen from the departing Space Shuttle Atlantis (September 2006,image: ESA/NASA)

Cupola

Node 2

Node 3

ERA

ATV

Columbus

External Facilities

Biolab

Fluid Science

Lab

European Physiology Module

Material Science Lab

Drawer Rack

Internal Facilities

European Support Organisation

• Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC) Oberpfaffenhofen

• Eurocom Crew Communicator

• Medical Operations located at EAC, Cologne

• ATV Control Centre Toulouse

• European Data Network between Col-CC, ATV-CC, and distributed User Operations Centres for Payload Operations

THE ARIANE PROGRAMME:A success story involving numerous SMEs

Ariane 5 launch.

The Ariane programme grants Europe access to space. It represents the most successful launcher programme in the world.

It is also an example of technological challenges providing European industry with precious expertise.

Apart from major space companies, numerous small and medium-sized enterprises are involved in the production of Ariane.

Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)

Future ideas:• Integrated Payloads• Safe Haven• Sample return Basis for manned version?

SPACE EXPLORATION

Europe’s Space Exploration Programme is called Aurora. Preparations are underway for robotic - and in the future human - missions, targeted primarily at Mars and the Moon.

ExoMars is the first Aurora Flagship mission under preparation, with the aim of better characterising the biological environment of Mars.

The ExoMars rover, searching for traces of life on Mars (artist’s impression)