Over the coming years, Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Romania joined.

Transcription

1 The European Space Agency This talk is based around an ESA presentation released this year, although some of the information and, in particular the videos, are from earlier years. Opening Slide After the Second World War, many European scientists had left Western Europe to work either in the US or the Soviet Union. Although Western European countries could still invest in research and space-related activities, European scientists realised that solely national projects would be unable to compete with the major superpowers. In 1962 European nations decided to have two different agencies, one to develop a launch system, the European Launch Development Organisation (ELDO) and the other, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), to develop spacecraft. The signed Conventions for the two agencies, ELDO and ESRO, came into force in in In 1975 ESA was created in its current form, merging ELDO with ESRO. There were 10 founding members: Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. Ireland joined later in the year. ESA launched its first major scientific mission, Cos-B, a satellite monitoring gamma-ray emissions in the Universe. It operated for over six years, four years longer than planned. Over the coming years, Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Romania joined. Canada takes part in some projects under a cooperation agreement. 7 other countries have cooperation agreements with the ESA. Vid 1 Purpose of ESA ESA s purpose is to provide for and promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European states in space research and technology and their space applications.

2 ESA Facts and Figures Some facts and figures, Including period covered by ELDO and ESRO, the ESA has over 50 years experience. There are 22 member states. ESA has 8 sites or facilities in Europe, with around 2,200 staff ESA s Headquarters are in Paris The European Astronauts Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany The European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near Madrid, Spain The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany The ESA centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) in Frascati, near Rome, Italy The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ECSAT), Noordwijk, the Netherlands The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, Harwell, Oxfordshire ESA Redu Centre, Belgium ESA also has liaison offices in Belgium, the USA and Russia; a launch base in French Guiana and ground/tracking stations in varius parts of the world. It has a budget of 5.2 billion Euros (2016) - UK 325 million. European per capita in space is about the same as the price of a cinema ticket. Over 80 satellites designed, tested and operated in flight. Staff by nationality in 2014

3 ESA s Industrial Policy About 85% of ESA s budget is spent on contracts with European Industry. ESA s policy ensures that Member States get a fair return on their investment. It aims to improve the competitiveness of European industry. It maintains and develops space technology. It exploits the advantages of competitive bidding, except where this is incompatible with the objectives of the industrial policy. ESA and the European Space Sector ESA member States finance 50% of the total public space spending in Europe. Because of the cooperation between ESA, the European Commission (EU) and national space agencies the European space industry sustains around 35,000 jobs. Europe is successful in the commercial space arena, with a market share of telecommunications and launch services higher than the fraction of Europe s public spending worldwide.

4 Birth of commercial operators ESA acts as a catalyst. It is responsible for research and development of space projects and on completion of qualification they are handed to outside entities for production and exploitation. Eumetsat, Arianespace, Eutelsat and Inmarsat are four examples. Eumesat is a global operational satellite agency that gathers accurate and reliable satellite data on weather, climate and the environment. Arianespace is the world s leading satellite launch company, operating a full family of launchers. Eutelsat is the leading satellite operator in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with 38 satellites in geostationary orbit covering 150 countries. Supplies satellite capacity and services for video, data and broadband applications. Inmarsat is an industry leader and pioneer of mobile satellite communications - It s services are accessed using a variety of devices, from hand-portable satellite phones and remote site fixed installations, to vessel, vehicular and airborne mobile terminals. Vid 2 2 mins 45 secs Being a satellite operators

5 Activities ESA is one of the few space agencies in the world to combine responsibility in nearly all areas of space activity. Space Science is a Mandatory programmed. Some programmes are optional and are only financed by participating countries. Member States contribute to mandatory programmes according to their GNP, as per the EU. Will now look at these activities. First Science. Science we will start with a video. Vid 3 Space Science 6 mins 30 secs ESA s pioneers of space science (1) I will just cover a couple of these - Hipparcos pinpointed the position of more than 100,000 stars with high precision and more than a million starts with lesser precision. Hipparcos confirmed Einstein s predictiction of the effect of gravity on star. The mission discovered that the Milky Way is changing shape and it s data helped predict the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter in Giotto had a number of very impressive firsts and achievements to its credit - It was Europe s first deep-space mission. It photographed the first close-up images of a comet nucleus (Halley). It discovered the size and shape of Halley s nucleus and discovered that the surface is very dark and that bright jets of gas and dust spring out of its nucleus. It was the first deep-space mission to change orbit by returning to earth for a gravityassist manoeuvre.

6 It was the first spacecraft to encounter two comets and in doing so measured the size, composition, and velocity of dust particles and measured the composition of the two comets. ESA s pioneers of space science (2) The Plank and Herschel missions have already been mentioned in the last video. Venus Express was the ESA s first spacecraft to visit Venus. It s mission was to perform a global investigation of the Venusian atmosphere. The name Venus Express comes from the short time to define, prepare and launch the mission. Launched in November 2005 the mission concluded in 2014 when the spacecraft ran out of fuel and entered the Venusian atmosphere. Huygens The Huygens spacecraft is part of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. This is a joint endeavour of ESA, NASA and the Italian space agency. Launched in 1997, Cassini-Huygens reached Saturn in In December 2004 the Huygens probe was ejected on a 22-day cruise to Titan, Saturn s largest moon. Huygens landed safely on Titan on 14 January 2005 and continued to transmit data to Earth for 72 minutes NASA s Cassini spacecraft continues to orbit Saturn making an extensive survey of the ringed planet and its moons. Its mission is due to end in Rosetta An international project, Rosetta s mission was to rendezvous with Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko to study the nucleus of the comet and its environment for nearly two years, and to land a probe on its surface. Launched in 2004, Rosetta reached the comet in August The Philae lander was delivered in November Philae bounced on landing rather than anchoring itself on the comet. After 3 days the primary batteries were exhausted and the lander went into hibernation. It woke up again and comunicated briefly with Rosetta in June and July Rosetta s mission ended on the 30 th September 2016 with a controlled impact onto the comet.

7 Today s Science Missions (1) The Hubble Space Telescope is a 2.4 metre diameter space telescope optimised to observe from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Hubble is a joint ESA and NASA mission. Hubble was launched in 1990 and designed for refurbishment by astronauts. The main mirror had a serious flaw, the edge was too flat by a miniscule amount but enough to prevent sharp images. Corrective optics were fitted during the first Hubble Service Mission in This mission, and subsequent service missions involved astronauts on the space shuttle. SOHO on video. Cluster The name Cluster was chosen because of the way the four spacecraft fly in a group around Earth. Flying in a tetrahedral (triangular pyramid) formation, the four spacecraft are collecting the most detailed data yet on small-scale changes in near-earth space, and the interaction between the charged particles of the solar wind and Earth's atmosphere. These enable scientists to build a three-dimensional model of the magnetosphere and to better understand the processes taking place inside it. Today s Science Missions (2) Mars Express, Rosetta and GAIA already covered. LISA Pathfinder is testing in flight the concept of low-frequency gravitational wave detection: it has put two test masses in a near-perfect gravitational free fall, and is controlling and measuring their motion with unprecedented accuracy. To do this it uses inertial sensors, a laser metrology system, a drag-free control system and an ultra-precise micro-propulsion system.

8 Upcoming Missions (1) BepiColumbo, which we saw on the video is one of ESA s cornerstone missions. It will study and understand the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner Solar System. Joint mission between ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Industry. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the successor to Hubble. JWST is a major space observatory. It has a large 6.5-metre segmented mirror that will collect almost 6 times more light than the Hubble space telescope. It has also been designed to work with infrared light. It will address a broad variety of scientific topics ranging from detecting the first galaxies in the Universe to studying planets around other stars. Upcoming Missions (2) Euclid and JUICE were seen in the video. Plato s primary goal is the detection and characterisation of terrestrial exoplanets around bright solar-type stars, with emphasis on planets orbiting in the habitable zone. Athena Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics will be an X-ray telescope designed to address the Cosmic Vision science theme 'The Hot and Energetic Universe'. The theme poses two key astrophysical questions: How does ordinary matter assemble into the large-scale structures we see today? and How do black holes grow and shape the Universe?

9 Science Operations The European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), near Madrid, is the home of ESA s Space Telescope and Planetary missions. It is the place where science operations are conducted, and where all of the scientific data produced are archived and made accessible to the world. ESAC is also involved in Earth observation missions. Vid 4 ESAC 2 mins 50 secs Earth Observations Pioneers in Earth Observation ESA has been dedicated to observing Earth from space since the launch of its first meteorological mission Meteosat-1 in Helping to predict the weather is the most mature application of Earth observation. Over the last four decades satellites have radically improved the accuracy of weather forecasts. Near-realtime meteorological images are at the heart of daily weather bulletins watched by millions across Europe and the world. The European Remote Sensing satellite ERS-1, launched in 1991, carried a comprehensive payload including an imaging synthetic aperture radar, a radar altimeter and other powerful instruments to measure ocean surface temperature and winds at sea. ERS-2, which overlapped with ERS-1, was launched in 1995 with an additional sensor for atmospheric ozone research. Envisat, launched in 2002, was the largest Earth observation spacecraft of its time. The eight-tonne satellite orbited Earth more than times over 10 years twice its planned lifetime. The mission delivered thousands of images and a wealth of data used to study the workings of the Earth system, including insights into factors contributing to climate change.

10 Vid 5 ESRIN: ESA s Eye on earth 2 mins 40 secs ESA s eye on earth ESRIN, known as the ESA Centre for Earth Observation, is one of the five ESA specialised centres situated in Europe. Located in Frascati, a small town 20 km south of Rome in Italy, ESRIN was established in 1966 and first began acquiring data from environmental satellites in the 1970s. Earth Observation data has grown in importance as more and more international and national agencies recognise the many uses to which it can be put. Satellites for Earth observation keep a constant watch over the Earth and the data they provide help to safeguard the planet in which we live. A number of other activities are also carried out at ESRIN, each of which is making an important contribution to ESA s work. Vega Programme: the management team for Europe s new small-scale launcher Information systems: the design, development, provision and maintenance of the information systems and software used by the Agency Telecom lab: providing European industry and institutions with easier access to space telecom infrastructure European Centre for Space Records: appraising and preserving the valuable technical records of completed ESA projects ESA Web Portal: keeping the public informed about ESA s many activities Virtual Reality Theatre: visual presentations of complex Earth Observation and geographic data for both specialists and students Earth Explorers The biggest environmental issue we face is global change, which encompasses not only climate change but also the large-scale impact that a growing global population and continued economic growth are having on the environment. Earth Explorers provide an important contribution to the global endeavour to further our understanding of Earth. Earth Explorer missions form the science and research element of ESA's Living Planet Programme and focus on the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and Earth's interior.

11 Global monitoring for a safer world Copernicus is the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date. It will provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security. ESA is developing a new family of satellites, called Sentinels, specifically for the operational needs of the Copernicus programme. The Sentinels will provide a unique set of observations, starting with the all-weather, day and night radar images from Sentinel-1A and -1B, launched respectively in April 2014 and April Sentinel-2A, launched on 23 June 2015, is designed to deliver high-resolution optical images for land services and Sentinel-3A, launched on 16 February 2016 provides data for services relevant to the ocean and land. Sentinel-4 and -5 will provide data for atmospheric composition monitoring from geostationary and polar orbits, respectively. Once launched, the European Commission assumes ownership of the satellites. ESA s technical heart The development of technology is one of the enabling activities of ESA. ESA s technical heart is ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. ESTEC is the incubator of the European space effort - where most ESA projects are born and where they are guided through the various phases of development. ESTEC is responsible for - Developing and managing all types of ESA missions: science, exploration, telecommunications, human spaceflight, satellite navigation and Earth observation. Providing all the managerial and technical competences and facilities needed to initiate and manage the development of space systems and technologies. Operating an environmental test centre for spacecraft, with supporting engineering laboratories specialised in systems engineering, components and materials, and working within a network of other facilities and laboratories. Supporting European space industry and working closely with other organisations, such as universities, research institutes and national agencies from ESA Member States, and cooperating with space agencies all over the world.

12 Time for another video. This one is a little bit dated. Vid 6 - ESTEC Corporate video 6 mins 40 secs Proba The Proba series of satellites are used to demonstrate ESA s technology in-orbit. New technology products need to be demonstrated in orbit to provide evidence of flight heritage or when there is a high risk associated with using new technology. These are the smallest spacecraft flown by ESA but make a big impact in the field of space technology.

13 Telecommunications and Integrated Applications A pioneer in telecoms ESA began developing communications satellites in Ten years later, the Agency launched an Orbital Test Satellite (OTS-2). ESA, Eutelsat (Europe's organisation for satellite telecommunications) and European national telecommunications companies used OTS-2 for over 13 years. It demonstrated new services, such as broadcasting to cable feeds and direct-to-home television. The success of OTS-2 inspired the design of many subsequent satellites in Europe. Following this pioneering work, ESA developed and launched four European Communications Satellites (ECS) between 1983 and 1988, for use by Eutelsat. Each ECS allowed coverage of the whole European continent for cable television, telephone communications, specialised services and Eurovision transmissions. Two of those satellites are still in commercial service. ESA also developed Olympus, which was the largest civilian telecommunications satellite in the world at the time of its launch in Its direct-to-home TV broadcasting payload allowed national network programmes to be captured with dish antennas as small as 30 cm in diameter. Control of Olympus was accidentally lost in May 1991 but a major recovery action enabled it to resume full service by the following August. Two years later, the ambitious experimental mission ended when the spacecraft's fuel ran out. In 2001, a new telecommunications satellite called Artemis was launched to continue the technological development of Europe s space infrastructure. Artemis is a technological demonstration satellite that incorporates pioneering Data Relay Satellite technology. Artemis created the first laser data link between satellites in different orbits.

14 Ensuring competitive and innovative industry ESA s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme transforms research and development investment into successful commercial products. This helps to secure the futures of Europe and Canada in the worldwide satcom market. The success of ARTES is the result of the continuous collaboration between the decision-makers in the private and public sectors of participating Member States. Through ARTES, ESA offers the unique ability to pool the expertise from all Member States and share their knowledge. This helps to maintain and develop an industry that provides competitive products in an open global commercial market in the face of increasing competition. ECSAT The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) is ESA s newest facility and its first in the United Kingdom. It is based at the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, also known as the UK Space Gateway. First opened in 2009, ECSAT is being developed by ESA following agreements reached between the UK and ESA in November It is currently supporting activities related to telecommunications, integrated applications, climate change, technology and science. The expansion of ESA matches the increased importance given to space by the UK. The UK space industry is growing at a long-term average of 7.3% as recorded in 2012/2013, is worth 11.3 billion to the UK economy and employs over people in highly skilled jobs. Around 70% of the UK space industry s production is exported. ECSAT is built around and will be drawing maximum benefit from cooperation with organisations located on or linked to the Harwell campus. Vid 7 ECSAT Harwell 3 mins 50 secs. Again a bit dated

15 Navigation Most will be familiar with the Global Positioning System or GPS. It was created by the US Government which continues to maintain it. They make it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver, but have the ability to selectively deny access to the system. Galileo: made in Europe Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system currently under construction will provide high-quality positioning, navigation and timing services to users across the whole world. A civil-controlled system offering guaranteed continuity of coverage, Galileo is the outcome of a partnership between ESA and the European Commission. The system will use 30 satellites. Four is the minimum number for determining position and 14 Galileo satellites are already in orbit. Galileo is expected to spawn a wide range of applications, based on positioning and timing for transport by road, rail, air and sea, infrastructure and public works management, agricultural and livestock management and tracking, e-banking and e-commerce. Human Spaceflight ESA s aim is to implement Europe's participation in the development of space infrastructure, such as the International Space Station, which makes it possible to perform experiments in a weightless environment, very different from that we have on Earth. ESA also support the development of research and technologies in space - on the International Space Station but also on European sounding rockets, parabolic flights as well as drop towers. This research and technology development will benefit people on Earth and prepare Europe for new challenges of human space exploration.

16 Next generation: flown and in training The International Space Station needs a crew to operate it and ESA has an astronaut corps, who are constantly training for upcoming missions. The Corps currently consists of fourteen members from Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Every ESA astronaut starts the training cycle by completing the 16-month 'Basic training' at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. The ISS Advanced Training takes around one year to complete. It is conducted in international astronaut classes and includes various training units at all ISS partner training sites. The training centres are located at Houston, in the United States (NASA), Star City near Moscow (Russia), Tsukuba near Tokyo (Japan), Montreal (Canada) and at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. Only once an astronaut completes this phase of training is s/he eligible for assignment to a spaceflight. Robotic exploration Robotic Exploration is the optional part of the Directorate of Science and Robotic Exploration. It consists of the ExoMars programme and the MREP Programme. The ExoMars programme implements two missions to Mars, the 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission and the 2018 Rover mission. The Mars Robotic Exploration Preparation (MREP) programme is intended to prepare Europe's future contribution to the international exploration of Mars. The ExoMars missions are in cooperation with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. The primary goal of the ExoMars programme is to address the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. This relates to its name, with the exo referring to the study of exobiology the possible existence of life beyond Earth (sometimes also referred to as astrobiology). The first mission was launched in March 2016 and consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module.

17 As you probably know, the Schiaprelli lander was lost due to a high speed impact with the surface of Mars. ExoMars All is not lost, however, as the Trace Gas Orbiter continues its mission. The last information from the ESA web site gives 2020 for the launch of the second mission (2018 shown here). Roscosmos will provide the descent module and the surface platform, as well as Proton launchers for both missions. ESA will provide the rover. Basic Tools: Launchers and Operations The European launcher family For many years, Ariane was Europe s only launcher and was used to guarantee access to space for European governments. This market alone could not sustain the availability of the service, so Ariane has evolved to meet the needs of the worldwide commercial market, where it has been extremely successful. Launchers are the second largest area of space-manufacturing activity in Europe after commercial satellites, boosting European industry. A new launch site for Soyuz was built in French Guiana to complement the performance range offered by Ariane. It is now fully operational and adds to the flexibility and competitiveness of Europe s fleet of launchers. In parallel, Vega was developed to cope with a wide range of missions and smaller payloads and is fully operational. Vid 8 European Launchers 3 mins 22 secs Low sound level in parts Europe s spaceport covered in video.

18 Mission Operations The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) at Darmstadt in Germany, is ESA s control centre for space missions and ground systems engineering. This can be seen in this final, but longer video. Vid 9 European Space Operations Blue slide Any questions?