European Space Agency

The European Space Agency, known as ESA, is a 23-member international organisation devoted to space exploration. It has its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 3,000 people globally as of 2025, and it was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its human spaceflight programme includes participation in the International Space Station and collaboration with NASA on the Artemis programme, especially manufacturing of the Orion spacecraft's European Service Module. ESA launches and operates uncrewed missions to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, and various comets and asteroids, and it maintains Europe's spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.