Overview
The European Space Agency or ESA is an inter-governmental organisation of 22 member states in Europe dedicated to the exploration of space. It operates a fleet consisting of three major rocket models - Ariane 5 (soon to be replaced by the upcoming Ariane 6 in 2022), Soyuz-2 and Vega - and maintains the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana as its launch site.. .
These are the 38 satellites operated by European Space Agency (ESA), based on the interactive table representation of the UCS Satellite Database (1 Jan, 2022) compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientist (UCS).
Most of the satellites from European Space Agency (ESA) are launched for commercial use (68.4%) and for the purpose of navigation and global positioning (68.4%).Majority of these satellites are MEO satellites, with around 24 (63.2%) launched so far.
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Insights from European Space Agency (ESA)'s Satellite Dataset
Which year saw the most satellites launched for European Space Agency (ESA)?
Which rocket has delivered the most satellites from European Space Agency (ESA) to space?
Which launch site has launched the most satellites from European Space Agency (ESA) to space?
What is the most common type of satellite orbit?
Apogee, Perigee & Period
Satellite Mass
Designed for space science, CHEOPS is a government satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (ESA).
Delivered via Soyuz (launch vehicle) from Guiana Space Center, it was launched into space on 18 December 2019 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. CHEOPS was constructed by European Space Agency (ESA/EADS CASA Espacio).
CHEOPS has a launch mass of 273 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 5 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2019-092B and NORAD ID 44874.
Taking 99 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 697km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 708km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 7.78E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Cryosat-2 is a government satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (ESA) for the purpose of earth observation (Radar Imaging).
Delivered via Dnepr (launch vehicle) from Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was launched into space on 8 April 2010 and orbits the Earth as a polar LEO satellite. Cryosat-2 was constructed by EADS Astrium (France/UK/Germany/Spain).
Designed with an operational lifetime of 3 years, Cryosat-2 has a launch mass of 720 kg and navigates with the COSPAR ID 2010-013A and NORAD ID 36508.
Taking 99 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 713km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 724km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 7.76E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 92 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by European Space Agency (ESA) into space at 1,367 kg
Operated by European Space Agency (ESA) of ESA, Aeolus is a government satellite launched for the purpose of earth observation (Earth Science).
A LEO satellite, it was launched into space using Vega as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 22 August 2018. Aeolus was constructed by Airbus Defense and Space (France/UK/Germany/Spain).
Designated with COSPAR ID 2018-066A and NORAD ID 43600, Aeolus is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 3 years. It has a launch mass of 1,367 kg.
Taking 92 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 314km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 317km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 2.24E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 97 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Designed for earth observation (Earth Science), Proba 5 is a government satellite operated by European Space Agency (ESA) (ESA).
Constructed by QinetiQ Space Belgium (Belgium), it was launched into space on 7 May 2013 using Vega as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center. Proba 5 orbits around the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite.
With a launch mass of 140kg, Proba 5 is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 3 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2013-021A and NORAD ID 39159.
Taking 101 minutes to orbit the Earth, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 813km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 820km. The eccentricity of the orbit is 4.87E-04 and it orbits at an inclination of 99 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Heaviest satellite launched by Ariane 5 ES into space at 715 kg
A commercial satellite, Galileo FOC FM19 is operated by European Space Agency (ESA) of ESA for the purpose of navigation and global positioning.
Constructed by OHB-System GmbH, SSTL (Germany/UK), it was launched into space using Ariane 5 ES as the launch vehicle from Guiana Space Center on 25 July 2018. Galileo FOC FM19 orbits around the Earth as a non-polar inclined MEO satellite.
Galileo FOC FM19 has a launch mass of 715 kg and is expected to have a operational lifetime of 12 years. It navigates with the COSPAR ID 2018-060C and NORAD ID 43566.
With an orbital eccentricity of 2.87E-04, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 23,233km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 23,250km. It takes 840 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 56 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.
Get more insights from these satellite datasets
Full datasets: All satellites by launch date | The Heaviest Satellites That Are Launched to Space
By Use Type: Civil-use satellites | Commercial satellites | Government satellites | Military satellites
By Country: USA | UK | France | Germany | Japan | China | Russia | Australia | Canada
By Orbit Class/Type: LEO satellites | MEO satellites | GEO satellites | Elliptical orbit | Polar orbit | Equatorial orbit | Non-polar inclined orbit | Sun-synchronous orbit | Molniya orbit
By Operators: SpaceX | EUTELSAT | SES | European Space Agency (ESA) | Planet Labs | Iridium | Spire Global | OneWeb | Swarm Technologies | NASA - Dataset of Satellites Launched (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) | Canadian Space Agency (CSA) - Dataset of Satellites Launched
By Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 | Ariane 5 | Ariane 5 ECA | Delta 2 | Dnepr | Electron | Falcon Heavy | Long March 2C | Long March 2D | Long March 3B | Pegasus | Proton | Proton M | PSLV | Rokot | Soyuz | Soyuz-2.1b | Vega
By Launch Vehicle: Cape Canaveral | Baikonur Cosmodrome | Guiana Space Center | International Space Station | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center | Plesetsk Cosmodrome | Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 | Satish Dhawan Space Centre | Taiyuan Launch Center | Vandenberg AFB | Xichang Satellite Launch Center | Boeing Satellite Systems | Airbus Defense and Space | EADS Astrium | Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems | Space Systems/Loral | Surrey Satellite Technology | Technical University Berlin | Thales Alenia Space