European Space Agency

European Space Agency
Czech: Evropská kosmická agentura ; Danish: Den Europæiske Rumorganisation ; German: Europäische Weltraumorganisation ; Estonian: Euroopa Kosmoseagentuur ; French: Agence spatiale européenne ; Finnish: Euroopan avaruusjärjestö ; Greek: Ευρωπαϊκός Οργανισμός Διαστήματος ; Hungarian: Európai Űrügynökség ; Irish: Gníomhaireacht Spáis na hEorpa ; Italian: Agenzia Spaziale Europea ; Luxembourgish: Europäesch Weltraumorganisatioun ; Dutch: Europese Ruimtevaartorganisatie ; Norwegian: Den europeiske romfartsorganisasjon ; Polish: Europejska Agencja Kosmiczna ; Portuguese: Agência Espacial Europeia ; Romanian: Agenția Spațială Europeană ; Romansh: Agenzia spaziala europeica ; Slovene: Evropska vesoljska agencija ; Spanish: Agencia Espacial Europea ; Swedish: Europeiska rymdorganisationen ;
	ESA logo and patch
	European Space Agency headquarters in Paris
Agency overview
Abbreviation	ESA; ASE; EW;
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 languages	English, French and German (working languages)
Director General	Josef Aschbacher
Primary spaceport	Guiana Space Centre
Owners	23 members Austria ; Belgium ; Czechia ; Denmark ; Estonia ; Finland ; France ; Germany ; Greece ; Hungary ; Ireland ; Italy ; Luxembourg ; Netherlands ; Norway ; Poland ; Portugal ; Romania ; Slovenia ; Spain ; Sweden ; Switzerland ; United Kingdom ;
Employees	3,000 (2025)
Annual budget	€8.26 billion (US$9.77 billion) (2026)
Website	esa.int

The European Space Agency (ESA; pronounced /ˈiːsə/ EE-sə) 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. ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2026 annual budget was around €8.3 billion.

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 in Kourou, French Guiana), as well as space safety and commercialisation.