THE ESA'S ROLE IN SPACE

Global standards for telecommunications satellites are based on ESA techniques. Over 50 telecom satellites have been built by European aerospace companies -- another billion-euro industry. The ESA leads the world in monitoring the ozone layer, ice sheets, ocean winds and currents, and other health checks for planet earth. Meteosat, which provides daily movies of the weather in Europe and Africa, was also developed by the ESA. Scientific spacecraft built by the ESA have achieved a leading role in:
  • Studying the Sun and its effects on the Earth.
  • Investigating comets.
  • Mapping the stars from space.
  • Unveiling the Universe by infrared light and X-rays.

Meteostat satellites
23 of 41
Florida Space Research Institute ©2002