The full form of ESA is the European Space Agency. It was founded in 1975 due to the merger of the European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organization (European Space Research Organization). Its headquarters are in Paris, and it has 22 member states. It also has branches in a number of European nations.
History of ESA
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- After the Second World War, Europe expressed the requirement for a space program.
- Ultimately, in 1958, two prominent European scientists, Pierre Auger & Edoardo Amaldi, proposed uniting European governments and setting up an organization identical to CERN.
- In 1964, countries formed a framework to build launchers for the European Launch Development organization and make spacecraft for the ESRO.
- The European Space Agency came into being in 1975, roughly ten years after the merger of ELDO with ESRO and the contributions of its ten founding member nations.
- Cos-B was the very first satellite mission planned to look at gamma radiation in space.
- ESA has a Board of Governors that offers the basic guidelines under which ESA establishes the European Space Programmes.
- ESA is managed by a Director-General who, for five years, is appointed by the Council.
Objectives of ESA
- ESA wants to influence how Europe’s space capabilities develop and make sure that money invested in space programmes benefits the people of Europe and the rest of the world.
- Additionally, it is a major donor to the international space station and the agency in charge of European civil space operations.
- Additionally, it runs various satellite programmes designed to investigate Earth and other worlds.
- One of its main missions is Mars Express, which orbits Mars, and Rosetta, a spacecraft that entered Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.