Happy Birthday, ESA!
The European Space Agency (ESA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. ESA has helped make Europe more technologically independent and has played a key role in space exploration in recent decades. And ETH Zurich has always been one of its partners on its journey.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and United States were also competing for military and technological dominance in space. The launch of the first Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957 shocked the Western world. In response, the US founded the civilian space agency NASA in 1958.
The space race between the superpowers prompted western European countries to build or develop their own space exploration capacities. Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland decided to collaborate and created two separate agencies: one to develop a launch system, the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), and the other, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) to develop scientific satellites.
After it was established in 1964, ESRO sent seven research satellites into space, but using American launchers. Meanwhile, ELDO’s main objective of sending its own payload rockets into orbit was never achieved. Both organisations were underfunded, and having two separate agencies had not paid off. In 1975, European countries decided to merge ESRO and ELDO to establish ESA. Within a few years of the reorganisation, the Europeans had developed the launcher Ariane.
Looking back in pictures
Mapping billions of stars
The various Ariane models (the current one is Ariane 6) would become a cornerstone of commercial aerospace. The Europeans used them to send weather and communication satellites into orbit, building a comprehensive satellite network. To reduce dependence on the United States, ESA developed Galileo as an alternative to American GPS.
ESA has run many pioneering space missions. It has explored comets, measured our galaxy and helped develop infrared astronomy. Prominent missions have included Giotto, which sent detailed images of the nucleus of Halley’s comet in 1986, and Rosetta, which escorted the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko and placed a lander on its surface between 2014 and 2016. Through its astrometry mission Gaia, over the last 12 years ESA has catalogued billions of stars in the Milky Way, mapping their brightness, position and movements.
Since its foundation in 1975, ESA has carried out or planned over 90 independent missions. Researchers from ETH Zurich have contributed to missions time and again. Below is a selection of missions in which ETH researchers have been involved.
ETH Zurich on board ESA missions
ESA’s Rosetta mission was the first to rendezvous with a comet, the first to follow a comet on its orbit around the sun, and the first to deploy a lander to a comet’s surface. By studying the gas, dust and structure of the nucleus and organic materials associated with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, via both remote and in situ observations, the Rosetta mission taught us about the history and evolution of our Solar System.
ETH’s contribution
The Millimeter Wave Electronics Laboratory (MWE) at ETH Zurich developed special transistors (InP-HEMTs) for the Rosetta mission that were deployed in the ESA ground stations to amplify the weak signals from the spacecraft.
Further information
external page Website Mission RosettaSince 2013, ESA’s Swarm mission has been studying the Earth’s magnetic field using a constellation of three satellites equipped with measuring instruments. Although invisible, the magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have an immeasurable impact on everyday life. By analysing the different characteristics of the observed field, Swarm will deliver insights into many natural processes, from those occurring deep inside the planet to weather in space caused by solar activity.
ETH’s contribution
With its expertise in geophysics, ETH Zurich is involved in analysing the data to deepen our understanding of Earth’s magnetic field.
Further information
The LISA mission and its predecessor LISA Pathfinder, which concluded in 2017, aim to detect gravitational waves in space. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to gravitational waves. It will consist of three satellites separated by 2.5 million km in a triangular formation, following the Earth in its orbit around the sun. It is due to launch in 2035.
ETH’s contribution
The Seismology and Geodynamics research group at ETH Zurich was involved in developing the front-end electronics for the gravitational reference sensor – the heart of the LISA measurement system. ETH is also involved in setting up the Swiss Data Centre, which will analyse the data sent by LISA. Director of the Centre, Michele Vallisneri, has been conducting research and working at ETH as a professor since early 2025.
Further information
The largest and most powerful space telescope ever launched consists of a mirror, four infrared measuring devices and a huge sun shield. It provides insights into the depths of space and to the beginnings of the Universe. The joint mission between ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency CSA launched in late 2021, and the first images from the telescope were released in July 2022.
ETH’s contribution
ETH’s Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics is coordinating the input from Swiss research and industry. The telescope also features ETH technology: a contamination control cover and connector cables for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), produced by the MIRI Consortium.
Further information
James Webb Space Telescope at ETH ZurichThe Solar Orbiter mission, a collaboration between ESA and NASA, aims to study the sun from up close and at high latitudes, to provide the first images of the sun’s poles, and to investigate the heliosphere, solar winds and solar eruptions.
The mission launched in February 2020 and began routine science operations in November 2021.
ETH’s contribution
Louise Harra, ETH Professor of Solar Astrophysics, is co-principal investigator of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) – a key instrument on board the spacecraft.
Further information
external page Website Mission Solar OrbiterThe international LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets) space mission is planning a space telescope that can study Earth-like exoplanets in detail in the infrared range. Its aim is to detect traces of life in the atmospheres of these planets. LIFE addresses one of the main themes of ESA’s future science programme Voyage 2050.
ETH’s contribution
The LIFE project was initiated in the Exoplanets and Habitability Group at ETH Zurich and is being driven forward internationally under its leadership.
Further information
external page Website LIFE-MissionEnVision will be the first mission to investigate Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, characterising the interaction between its different envelopes: its atmosphere, surface/subsurface and interior. It aims to provide a holistic view of Venus, studying the planet’s history, activity and climate. It is due to launch in late 2031.
ETH’s contribution
The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Group at ETH Zurich is involved in work on the VenSpec-H instrument, which will analyse the composition of Venus’s atmosphere.
Further information
external page Website Mission EnVisionThe Vigil mission, scheduled for launch in 2031, will provide round-the-clock space weather data from its position at Lagrange Point 5 between the Sun and Earth. This will give researchers a new perspective on the Sun and its eruptions. The spacecraft will stream a constant feed of near real-time data on potentially hazardous solar activity, before it rolls into view from Earth, enabling advance warning of oncoming solar storms. This will help protect researchers, spacecraft in orbit and ground infrastructure that are not shielded by the Earth's magnetic field and are exposed to violent solar outbursts.
ETH’s contribution
The Solar Astrophysics Group at ETH Zurich is developing the front-end electronics for the EUV Imager (JEDI). The NASA instrument on board will provide a constant gaze at the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light.
Further information
external page Website Mission VigilInternational cooperation
From the outset, ESA has cooperated with other space agencies such as NASA, for example on the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. NASA supplied the Cassini orbiter, while ESA developed the Huygens lander. In 2005, Huygens successfully landed on Saturn’s moon Titan – the first landing on an object in the outer Solar System.
ESA was also involved from the outset in the James Webb Space Telescope, which launched into space in late 2021 (for more info see dropdown below). ESA and NASA are currently working together to bring rock samples from Mars to Earth. NASA will collect the samples with the rover Perseverance, while ESA is developing the return launcher.
Robots from Zurich for European space research
Through its interdisciplinary research and technological expertise, ETH Zurich has contributed to various ESA initiatives, programmes and missions over the years.
For example, a team of ETH students developed the three-legged robot SpaceHopper, which can move across asteroids by jumping. The robot was tested in zero gravity on a parabolic flight as part of the ESA Academy programme. The follow-up project, external page LunarLeaper, is suitable for exploring lava tubes on the moon. Researchers at ETH Zurich are leading the international mission, which could one day fly to the moon for ESA.
Other projects in which ETH was involved also rely on robots to research locomotion for space exploration: SpaceBok (2017–2019) started life as a D-MAVT Focus project, before being further developed and finally tested at ESA ESTEC in the Netherlands. Glimpse / Arise (2021–2023) was developed as part of a consortium, in collaboration with the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, the University of Zurich, the University of Basel, the University of Bern, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. It won the ESA/ESRIC Space Resources Challenge.
Applications on Earth with data from space
ETH often uses satellite data in its research into solutions to respond to societal challenges and to deliver sustainable development. Earth observation from space makes new applications possible and is also intended to stimulate downstream industries in the European region.
Current ETH projects that use satellite data and are supported by ESA include the external page study of extreme weather events with data, deep learning methods and climate analysis, and the development of external page better soil data for precision agriculture.
ETH Zurich also promotes start-ups with a space connection and operates the external page ESA Business Incubation Centre Switzerland (ESA BIC CH). To date, the ESA BIC CH has supported over 80 Swiss start-ups and spin-offs, such as askEarth, which facilitates access to satellite images for environmental and climate monitoring, and Apheros, which manufactures lightweight metal sponges with maximum surface area.
European Space Agency ESA
ESA started operating on 30 May 1975. Its goal is to develop and promote cooperation among European States in space research and technology for purely peaceful purposes.
ESA currently has 23 Member States. Switzerland is one of the ten founding Member States, and represents its interests at ESA through the Swiss Space Office (SSO), a division of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
The most important body at the Paris-based agency is the ESA Council. Every Member State has one vote – regardless of its financial contribution. The ESA Council also elects the Director General. Since 2021, the agency has been headed by Austrian Josef Aschbacher.