- All Categories (4378)
- Data (47)
- News (154)
- Missions (14)
- Events (42)
- Tools (16)
- Activities (13)
- Campaigns (8)
- Documents (4084)
MISSIONS
Explore the European Space Agency's Earth Observation satellite missions. Learn all about ESA's dedicated Earth Explorers or collaborations with other agencies through the Third Party Missions programme.
Mission - Earth Explorers
Aeolus
The Aeolus mission which was launched into space on 22 August 2018 and was retired on 30 April 2023, provided global observations of wind profiles from space to improve the quality of weather forecasts, and to advance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and climate processes.
Mission - Earth Explorers
Swarm
Swarm is dedicated to creating a highly detailed survey of Earth’s geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution as well as the electric field in the atmosphere using a constellation of three identical satellites.
Mission - Earth Explorers
SMOS
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is dedicated to making global observations of soil moisture over land and salinity over oceans.
Mission - Earth Explorers
GOCE
ESA's Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission mapped Earth's geoid very accurately, opening a window into Earth's interior structure as well as the currents circulating within the depths of its oceans.
Mission - Heritage Missions
Envisat
Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Envisat carried ten instruments aboard for a wide range of Earth observing fields. The mission was operational from 2002 to 2012.
Mission - Heritage Missions
ERS
The ERS programme was composed of two missions, ERS-1 and ERS-2, which together observed the Earth for 20 years, from 1991 to 2011.
Mission - Earth Explorers
Swarm Product Data Handbook
The Swarm Product Data Handbook provides a detailed description of Level 1b and Level 2 products derived from Swarm data.
Mission - Third Party Missions
GHGSat
The GHGSat mission is dedicated to measuring emissions of greenhouse gases.
Mission - Copernicus Sentinels
Copernicus Sentinel-5P
The Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor mission is the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere.
Mission - Heritage Missions
NOAA POES
NOAA's AVHRR sensor is carried on the POES mission, a constellation of polar orbiting weather satellites.
Mission - Third Party Missions
Spire
Spire Global's constellation of Lemur nanosatellites offer satellite-based maritime, aviation and weather tracking.
Mission - Meteorological Missions
MetOp
MetOp is a mission dedicated to improving weather forecasts and monitoring Earth's climate.
Mission - Meteorological Missions
Meteosat Second Generation
The ESA Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) programme, started in 1994, is composed of four satellites.
Mission - Heritage Missions
GRACE
GRACE stands for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and was a part of the international Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites.