Centre in Darmstadt, Germany

The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is responsible for controlling ESA satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany. It is Misson Control for most of the space projects of the ESA. ESOC also houses the Ground Facilities Control Centre (GFCC) that is responsible for remote operation of the ESTRACK network of Ground Stations and antennas. Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 851 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 851 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to exploration of space with currently 16 member states. ... Jump to: navigation, search A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... Unmanned space missions are those using remote-controlled spacecraft. ... Map of Germany showing Darmstadt Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hesse in Germany. ... ESOC network of ground-based space-tracking stations. ...

The last important projects that were lanuched and controlled from ESOC were Smart-1, Mars Express, Rosetta, Huygens. Concept model of the Mars Express spacecraft Mars Express is a Mars exploration mission of the European Space Agency and Italian Space Agency. ... Conceptual drawing of the Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander Rosetta is a European Space Agency-led unmanned space mission launched in 2004 intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ... This is an artists concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. ...

Currently ESOC is opperating the following satellites: Envisat, ERS-2, Integral, XMM-Newton, Rosetta, Mars Express, Smart-1 and Cluster.

Projects under preparations include: Venus Express (VEX), MSG-2, Metop, GOCE, LISA Pathfinder, Aeolus and Herschel-Planck Venus Express is the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency. ... ... LISA Pathfinder is the revised name for SMART-2, an ESA space probe to be launched in 2008. ...

This branch of the agency is also responsible for the development of the technology infrastructure it requires to support existing and planned missions. Arguably its most important technology asset is the Space Control and Operations Software (SCOS2000), an adaptable software infrastructure for monitoring and controlling the various spacecraft.

External link

• Welcome to the ESOC Home Page