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113-591: The European Space Agency ( ESA ) is a 22-member intergovernmental body devoted to space exploration . With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, the ESA was founded in 1975. Its 2024 annual budget was €7.8 billion. The ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program);

226-527: A U.S. Air Force Titan IV B/ Centaur rocket. The complete launcher was made up of a two-stage Titan IV booster rocket , two strap-on solid rocket engines , the Centaur upper stage, and a payload enclosure, or fairing. The total cost of this scientific exploration mission was about US$ 3.26  billion , including $ 1.4 billion for pre-launch development, $ 704 million for mission operations, $ 54 million for tracking and $ 422 million for

339-435: A space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites . The Flagship -class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini space probe and ESA's Huygens lander , which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan . Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit, where it stayed from 2004 to 2017. The two craft took their names from

452-399: A synthetic aperture radar mapper, a charge-coupled device imaging system, a visible/ infrared mapping spectrometer , a composite infrared spectrometer, a cosmic dust analyzer, a radio and plasma wave experiment, a plasma spectrometer, an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, a magnetospheric imaging instrument, a magnetometer and an ion /neutral mass spectrometer . Telemetry from

565-493: A treaty that acts as a charter creating the group. Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (governments) of several states go through a ratification process, providing the IGO with an international legal personality. Intergovernmental organizations are an important aspect of public international law . Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should be distinguished from simple groupings or coalitions of states, such as

678-735: A capitalist economy. The oldest regional organization is the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna . There are several different reasons a state may choose membership in an intergovernmental organization. But there are also reasons membership may be rejected. Reasons for participation: Reasons for rejecting membership: Intergovernmental organizations are provided with privileges and immunities that are intended to ensure their independent and effective functioning. They are specified in

791-578: A consequence its citizens became eligible to apply to the 2022 ESA Astronaut group , applications for which were scheduled to close one week later. The deadline was therefore extended by three weeks to allow Lithuanians a fair chance to apply. Slovakia's Associate membership came into effect on 13 October 2022, for an initial duration of seven years. The Association Agreement supersedes the European Cooperating State (ECS) Agreement, which entered into force upon Slovakia's subscription to

904-640: A fair trial . Otherwise, the organizations' immunities may be put in question in national and international courts. Some organizations hold proceedings before tribunals relating to their organization to be confidential, and in some instances have threatened disciplinary action should an employee disclose any of the relevant information. Such confidentiality has been criticized as a lack of transparency . The immunities also extend to employment law . In this regard, immunity from national jurisdiction necessitates that reasonable alternative means are available to effectively protect employees' rights; in this context,

1017-854: A first instance Dutch court considered an estimated duration of proceedings before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization of 15 years to be too long. An international organization does not pay taxes, is difficult to prosecute in court and is not obliged to provide information to any parliament. The United Nations focuses on five main areas: "maintaining peace and security , protecting human rights , delivering humanitarian aid , supporting sustainable development , and upholding international law ". UN agencies , such as UN Relief and Works Agency , are generally regarded as international organizations in their own right. Additionally,

1130-600: A full member of the ESA on 1 January 2025, when the current Association Agreement expires. Latvia became the second current associated member on 30 June 2020, when the Association Agreement was signed by ESA Director Jan Wörner and the Minister of Education and Science of Latvia , Ilga Šuplinska in Riga . The Saeima ratified it on 27 July. In May 2021, Lithuania became the third current associated member. As

1243-534: A good resource for developmental projects in developing countries. The UN has to protect against any kind of human rights violation, and in the UN system, some specialized agencies, like ILO and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), work in the human rights' protection fields. The UN agency, ILO, is trying to end any kind of discrimination in the work field and child labor; after that, this agency promotes fundamental labor rights and to get safe and secure for

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1356-431: A higher quality of life, better security, more economic wealth, and also fulfill our citizens' dreams and thirst for knowledge, and attract the young generation. This is the reason space exploration is an integral part of overall space activities. It has always been so, and it will be even more important in the future. The ESA describes its work in two overlapping ways: These are either mandatory or optional. According to

1469-756: A joint study of the potential mission from 1984 to 1985. ESA continued with its own study in 1986, while the American astronaut Sally Ride , in her influential 1987 report NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space , also examined and approved of the Cassini mission. While Ride's report described the Saturn orbiter and probe as a NASA solo mission, in 1988 the Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications of NASA, Len Fisk, returned to

1582-565: A launch system, ELDO (European Launcher Development Organisation), and the other the precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation). The latter was established on 20 March 1964 by an agreement signed on 14 June 1962. From 1968 to 1972, ESRO launched seven research satellites, but ELDO was not able to deliver a launch vehicle. Both agencies struggled with the underfunding and diverging interests of their participants. The ESA in its current form

1695-475: A milestone in the search for exoplanets . On 21 January 2019, ArianeGroup and Arianespace announced a one-year contract with the ESA to study and prepare for a mission to mine the Moon for lunar regolith . In 2021 the ESA ministerial council agreed to the " Matosinhos manifesto" which set three priority areas (referred to as accelerators ) "space for a green future, a rapid and resilient crisis response, and

1808-605: A mission of four years, from June 2004 to May 2008. The mission was extended for another two years until September 2010, branded the Cassini Equinox Mission . The mission was extended a second and final time with the Cassini Solstice Mission , lasting another seven years until September 15, 2017, on which date Cassini was de-orbited to burn up in Saturn's upper atmosphere. The Huygens module traveled with Cassini until its separation from

1921-479: A provision ensuring a fair industrial return to Canada. The most recent Cooperation Agreement was signed on 15 December 2010 with a term extending to 2020. For 2014, Canada's annual assessed contribution to the ESA general budget was €6,059,449 ( CAD$ 8,559,050). For 2017, Canada has increased its annual contribution to €21,600,000 ( CAD$ 30,000,000). The ESA is funded from annual contributions by national governments of members as well as from an annual contribution by

2034-562: A radio link between Huygens and Cassini provided by Probe Data Relay Subsystem (PDRS). As the probe's mission could not be telecommanded from Earth because of the great distance, it was automatically managed by the Command Data Management Subsystem (CDMS). The PDRS and CDMS were provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). After Cassini 's launch, it was discovered that data sent from

2147-510: A result, Cassini became more specialized. The Mariner Mark II series was cancelled. The combined orbiter and probe is the third-largest uncrewed interplanetary spacecraft ever successfully launched, behind the Phobos 1 and 2 Mars probes, as well as being among the most complex. The orbiter had a mass of 2,150 kg (4,740 lb), the probe 350 kg (770 lb) including 30 kg (66 lb) of probe support equipment left on

2260-585: A series of calibration photos. On January 23, 2000, Cassini performed a flyby of the asteroid 2685 Masursky at around 10:00 UTC. It took photos in the period five to seven hours before the flyby at a distance of 1.6 × 10 ^  km (0.99 × 10 ^  mi) and a diameter of 15 to 20 km (9.3 to 12.4 mi) was estimated for the asteroid. Cassini made its closest approach to Jupiter on December 30, 2000, at 9.7 million kilometers, and made many scientific measurements. About 26,000 images of Jupiter, its faint rings , and its moons were taken during

2373-595: A variety of issues—was the League of Nations , founded on 10 January 1920 with a principal mission of maintaining world peace after World War I. The United Nations followed this model after World War II . This was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. Currently, the UN

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2486-471: A view to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications systems… The ESA is responsible for setting a unified space and related industrial policy, recommending space objectives to the member states, and integrating national programs like satellite development, into the European program as much as possible. Jean-Jacques Dordain – ESA's Director General (2003–2015) – outlined

2599-713: A while already and which gives effect to these. Thanks Jan for your hand of friendship and making this possible." The ESA currently has two operational launch vehicles Vega-C and Ariane 6 . Rocket launches are carried out by Arianespace , which has 23 shareholders representing the industry that manufactures the Ariane 5 as well as CNES , at the ESA's Guiana Space Centre . Because many communication satellites have equatorial orbits, launches from French Guiana are able to take larger payloads into space than from spaceports at higher latitudes . In addition, equatorial launches give spacecraft an extra 'push' of nearly 500 m/s due to

2712-475: Is a widespread harassment between management and its employees, especially with its contractors. Since the ESA is an international organization, unaffiliated with any single nation, any form of legal action is difficult to raise against the organization. Member states participate to varying degrees with both mandatory space programs and those that are optional. As of 2008, the mandatory programmes made up 25% of total expenditures while optional space programmes were

2825-594: Is already underway in two different areas of launcher activity that will bring benefits to both partners. Notable ESA programmes include SMART-1 , a probe testing cutting-edge space propulsion technology, the Mars Express and Venus Express missions, as well as the development of the Ariane 5 rocket and its role in the ISS partnership. The ESA maintains its scientific and research projects mainly for astronomy-space missions such as Corot , launched on 27 December 2006,

2938-655: Is also working with NASA to manufacture the Orion spacecraft service module that flies on the Space Launch System . After World War II , many European scientists left Western Europe in order to work with the United States. Although the 1950s boom made it possible for Western European countries to invest in research and specifically in space-related activities, Western European scientists realised solely national projects would not be able to compete with

3051-460: Is at an advanced stage" with these nations and that "prospects for mutual benefits are existing". A separate space exploration strategy resolution calls for further co-operation with the United States, Russia and China on " LEO exploration, including a continuation of ISS cooperation and the development of a robust plan for the coordinated use of space transportation vehicles and systems for exploration purposes, participation in robotic missions for

3164-572: Is capable of carrying a payload with a mass of between 300 and 1500 kg to an altitude of 700 km, for low polar orbit . Its maiden launch from Kourou was on 13 February 2012. Vega began full commercial exploitation in December 2015. The rocket has three solid propulsion stages and a liquid propulsion upper stage (the AVUM ) for accurate orbital insertion and the ability to place multiple payloads into different orbits. A larger version of

3277-609: Is designed to better understand dark energy and dark matter by accurately measuring the accelerating expansion of the universe . The agency's facilities date back to ESRO and are deliberately distributed among various countries and areas. The most important are the following centres: The treaty establishing the European Space Agency reads: The purpose of the Agency shall be to provide for and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European States in space research and technology and their space applications, with

3390-484: Is intended to be ensured by legal mechanisms that are internal to the intergovernmental organization itself and access to administrative tribunals. In the course of many court cases where private parties tried to pursue claims against international organizations, there has been a gradual realization that alternative means of dispute settlement are required as states have fundamental human rights obligations to provide plaintiffs with access to court in view of their right to

3503-817: Is the main IGO with its arms such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the General Assembly (UNGA), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Secretariat (UNSA), the Trusteeship Council (UNTC) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). When defined as "organizations with at least three state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as well as regular meetings and budgets",

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3616-524: The Huygens probe . NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States, where the orbiter was assembled, managed the mission. The European Space Research and Technology Centre developed Huygens . The centre's prime contractor, Aérospatiale of France (part of Thales Alenia Space from 2005), assembled the probe with equipment and instruments supplied by many European countries (including Huygens ' batteries and two scientific instruments from

3729-684: The Cassini Telemetry Dictionary. Out of these 67 lower complexity mini-packets, 6 mini-packets contained the subsystem covariance and Kalman gain elements (161 measurements), not used during normal mission operations. This left 947 measurements in 61 mini-packets. A total of seven telemetry maps corresponding to 7 AACS telemetry modes were constructed. These modes are: (1) Record; (2) Nominal Cruise; (3) Medium Slow Cruise; (4) Slow Cruise; (5) Orbital Ops; (6) Av; (7) ATE (Attitude Estimator) Calibration. These 7 maps cover all spacecraft telemetry modes. The Huygens probe, supplied by

3842-541: The Cassini orbiter was powered by three GPHS-RTG radioisotope thermoelectric generators , which use heat from the decay of about 33 kg (73 lb) of plutonium-238 (in the form of plutonium dioxide ) to generate direct current electricity via thermoelectrics . The RTGs on the Cassini mission have the same design as those used on the New Horizons , Galileo , and Ulysses space probes, and they were designed to have very long operational lifetimes. At

3955-658: The European Science Foundation and the American National Academy of Sciences formed a working group to investigate future cooperative missions. Two European scientists suggested a paired Saturn Orbiter and Titan Probe as a possible joint mission. In 1983, NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee recommended the same Orbiter and Probe pair as a core NASA project. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) performed

4068-462: The European Space Agency (ESA) and named after the 17th century Dutch astronomer who first discovered Titan, Christiaan Huygens , scrutinized the clouds, atmosphere, and surface of Saturn's moon Titan in its descent on January 15, 2005. It was designed to enter and brake in Titan's atmosphere and parachute a fully instrumented robotic laboratory down to the surface. The probe system consisted of

4181-594: The European Union (EU). The budget of the ESA was €5.250 billion in 2016. Every 3–4 years, ESA member states agree on a budget plan for several years at an ESA member states conference. This plan can be amended in future years, however provides the major guideline for the ESA for several years. The 2016 budget allocations for major areas of the ESA activity are shown in the chart on the right. Countries typically have their own space programmes that differ in how they operate organisationally and financially with

4294-565: The European Union Space Programme Agency ). After the decision of the ESA Council of 21/22 March 2001, the procedure for accession of the European states was detailed as described the document titled "The Plan for European Co-operating States (PECS)". Nations that want to become a full member of the ESA do so in 3 stages. First a Cooperation Agreement is signed between the country and ESA. In this stage,

4407-782: The G7 or the Quartet . Such groups or associations have not been founded by a constituent document and exist only as task groups . Intergovernmental organizations must also be distinguished from treaties. Many treaties (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement , or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade before the establishment of the World Trade Organization ) do not establish an independent secretariat and instead rely on

4520-496: The Huygens probe to Cassini orbiter (and then re-transmitted to Earth) would be largely unreadable. The cause was that the bandwidth of signal processing electronics was too narrow and the anticipated Doppler shift between the lander and the mother craft would put the signals out of the system's range. Thus, Cassini 's receiver would be unable to receive the data from Huygens during its descent to Titan. A work-around

4633-609: The International Telecommunication Union and other standards organizations ). Common types include: In regional organizations like the European Union , African Union , NATO , ASEAN and Mercosur , there are restrictions on membership due to factors such as geography or political regimes. To enter the European Union (EU), the states require different criteria; member states need to be European, liberal-democratic political system, and be

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4746-533: The Titan landing module Huygens . As the successor of ELDO , the ESA has also constructed rockets for scientific and commercial payloads. Ariane 1 , launched in 1979, carried mostly commercial payloads into orbit from 1984 onward. The next two versions of the Ariane rocket were intermediate stages in the development of a more advanced launch system, the Ariane 4 , which operated between 1988 and 2003 and established

4859-549: The United States military ) led to decisions to rely more on itself and on co-operation with Russia. A 2011 press issue thus stated: Russia is ESA's first partner in its efforts to ensure long-term access to space. There is a framework agreement between ESA and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation and partnership in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and cooperation

4972-620: The visible -channel portion VIMS-V of VIMS spectrometer . NASA provided the VIMS infrared counterpart, as well as the Main Electronic Assembly, which included electronic sub-assemblies provided by CNES of France. On April 16, 2008, NASA announced a two-year extension of the funding for ground operations of this mission, at which point it was renamed the Cassini Equinox Mission. The round of funding

5085-627: The 5-year period, the country can either begin negotiations to become a full member state or an associated state or sign a new PECS Charter. Many countries, most of which joined the EU in both 2004 and 2007, have started to co-operate with the ESA on various levels: During the Ministerial Meeting in December 2014, ESA ministers approved a resolution calling for discussions to begin with Israel, Australia and South Africa on future association agreements. The ministers noted that "concrete cooperation

5198-516: The Ariane 6 to launch in June or July 2024. The beginning of the new millennium saw the ESA become, along with agencies like NASA, JAXA , ISRO , the CSA and Roscosmos , one of the major participants in scientific space research . Although the ESA had relied on co-operation with NASA in previous decades, especially the 1990s, changed circumstances (such as tough legal restrictions on information sharing by

5311-500: The Basic Technology Research Programme. While the financial contribution of the country concerned increases, it is still much lower than that of a full member state. The agreement is normally followed by a Plan For European Cooperating State (or PECS Charter). This is a 5-year programme of basic research and development activities aimed at improving the nation's space industry capacity. At the end of

5424-509: The ESA as full members. Since October 2022 there have been five associate members: Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Canada. The four European members have shown interest in full membership and may eventually apply within the next years. Since 2016, Slovenia has been an associated member of the ESA. In November 2023 Slovenia formally applied for full membership. In June 2024 Prime Minister Robert Golob and Director General Josef Aschbacher have signed an agreement that will see Slovenia become

5537-494: The ESA as the world leader in commercial space launches in the 1990s. Although the succeeding Ariane 5 experienced a failure on its first flight, it has since firmly established itself within the heavily competitive commercial space launch market with 112 successful launches until 2021. The successor launch vehicle, the Ariane 6 , is under development and had a successful long-firing engine test in November 2023. The ESA plans for

5650-541: The ESA began Giotto , its first deep-space mission, to study the comets Halley and Grigg–Skjellerup . Hipparcos , a star-mapping mission, was launched in 1989 and in the 1990s SOHO , Ulysses and the Hubble Space Telescope were all jointly carried out with NASA. Later scientific missions in cooperation with NASA include the Cassini–Huygens space probe, to which the ESA contributed by building

5763-477: The ESA website, the activities are: Every member country (known as 'Member States') must contribute to these programmes: The European Space Agency Science Programme is a long-term programme of space science missions. Depending on their individual choices the countries can contribute to the following programmes, becoming 'Participating States', listed according to: As of 2023, Many other facilities are operated by national space agencies in close collaboration with

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5876-458: The ESA. For example, the French space agency CNES has a total budget of €2,015 million, of which €755 million is paid as direct financial contribution to the ESA. Several space-related projects are joint projects between national space agencies and the ESA (e.g. COROT ). Also, the ESA is not the only European governmental space organisation (for example European Union Satellite Centre and

5989-572: The ESA. The ESA employs around 2,547 people, and thousands of contractors. Initially, new employees are contracted for an expandable four-year term, which is until the organization's retirement age of 63. According to the ESA's documents, the staff can receive myriad of perks, such as financial childcare support, retirement plans, and financial help when migrating. The ESA also prevents employees from disclosing any private documents or correspondences to outside parties. Ars Technica ' s 2023 report, which contained testimonies of 18 people, suggested that there

6102-510: The Earth. It took 68 to 84 minutes for radio signals to travel from Earth to the spacecraft, and vice versa. Thus ground controllers could not give "real-time" instructions for daily operations or for unexpected events. Even if response were immediate, more than two hours would have passed between the occurrence of a problem and the reception of the engineers' response by the satellite. Instruments: Cassini ' s instrumentation consisted of:

6215-443: The European Space Agency's mission in a 2003 interview: Today space activities have pursued the benefit of citizens, and citizens are asking for a better quality of life on Earth. They want greater security and economic wealth, but they also want to pursue their dreams, to increase their knowledge, and they want younger people to be attracted to the pursuit of science and technology. I think that space can do all of this: it can produce

6328-657: The French Emperor Napoleon. States then became the main decision makers who preferred to maintain their sovereignty as of 1648 at the Westphalian treaty that closed the 30 Years' War in Europe. The first and oldest international organization—being established employing a treaty, and creating a permanent secretariat, with a global membership—was the International Telecommunication Union (founded in 1865). The first general international organization—addressing

6441-643: The Plan for European Cooperating States Charter on 4 February 2016, a scheme introduced at ESA in 2001. The ECS Agreement was subsequently extended until 3 August 2022. Since 1 January 1979, Canada has had the special status of a Cooperating State within the ESA. By virtue of this accord, the Canadian Space Agency takes part in the ESA's deliberative bodies and decision-making and also in the ESA's programmes and activities. Canadian firms can bid for and receive contracts to work on programmes. The accord has

6554-716: The UN such as the World Health Organization (which was made up of regional organizations such as PAHO that predated the UN). A few UN special agencies are very centralized in policy and decision-making, but some are decentralized; for example, the country-based projects or missions' directors and managers can decide what they want to do in the fields. The UN agencies have a variety of tasks based on their specialization and their interests. The UN agencies provide different kinds of assistance to low-income countries and middle-income countries, and this assistance would be

6667-704: The United Nations has Specialized Agencies , which are organizations within the United Nations System that have their member states (often nearly identical to the UN Member States ) and are governed independently by them; examples include international organizations that predate the UN, such as the International Telecommunication Union , and the Universal Postal Union , as well as organizations that were created after

6780-501: The United States). The Italian Space Agency (ASI) provided the Cassini orbiter's high-gain radio antenna , with the incorporation of a low-gain antenna (to ensure telecommunications with the Earth for the entire duration of the mission), a compact and lightweight radar , which also used the high-gain antenna and served as a synthetic-aperture radar , a radar altimeter , a radiometer , the radio science subsystem (RSS), and

6893-753: The Vega launcher, Vega-C had its first flight in July 2022. The new evolution of the rocket incorporates a larger first stage booster, the P120C replacing the P80 , an upgraded Zefiro (rocket stage) second stage, and the AVUM+ upper stage. This new variant enables larger single payloads, dual payloads, return missions, and orbital transfer capabilities. Historically, the Ariane family rockets have been funded primarily "with money contributed by ESA governments seeking to participate in

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7006-562: The agency functioned in a de facto fashion. The ESA launched its first major scientific mission in 1975, Cos-B , a space probe monitoring gamma-ray emissions in the universe, which was first worked on by ESRO. The ESA collaborated with NASA on the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), the world's first high-orbit telescope, which was launched in 1978 and operated successfully for 18 years. A number of successful Earth-orbit projects followed, and in 1986

7119-731: The astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens . Launched aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur on October 15, 1997, Cassini was active in space for nearly 20 years, with 13 years spent orbiting Saturn and studying the planet and its system after entering orbit on July 1, 2004. The voyage to Saturn included flybys of Venus (April 1998 and July 1999), Earth (August 1999), the asteroid 2685 Masursky , and Jupiter (December 2000). The mission ended on September 15, 2017, when Cassini ' s trajectory took it into Saturn's upper atmosphere and it burned up in order to prevent any risk of contaminating Saturn's moons, which might have offered habitable environments to stowaway terrestrial microbes on

7232-412: The communications antenna and other special transmitters (an S-band transmitter and a dual-frequency K a -band system) was also used to make observations of the atmospheres of Titan and Saturn and to measure the gravity fields of the planet and its satellites. The HSP channel is designed to observe starlight that passes through Saturn's rings (known as stellar occultations) in order to understand

7345-490: The cooperation were laid out in a framework agreement signed by the two entities. On 17 November 2020, ESA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). SANSA CEO Dr. Valanathan Munsami tweeted: "Today saw another landmark event for SANSA with the signing of an MoU with the ESA. This builds on initiatives that we have been discussing for

7458-408: The country has very limited financial responsibilities. If a country wants to co-operate more fully with ESA, it signs a European Cooperating State (ECS) Agreement, albeit to be a candidate for said agreement, a country must be European. The ECS Agreement makes companies based in the country eligible for participation in ESA procurements. The country can also participate in all ESA programmes, except for

7571-451: The distinction from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally. These include international nonprofit organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement , International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières , as well as lobby groups that represent the interests of multinational corporations. IGOs are established by

7684-429: The end of the nominal 11-year Cassini mission, they were still able to produce 600 to 700 watts of electrical power. (Leftover hardware from the Cassini RTG Program was modified and used to power the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt , which was designed and launched later. ) Power distribution was accomplished by 192 solid-state power switches , which also functioned as circuit breakers in

7797-424: The event of an overload condition. The switches used MOSFETs that featured better efficiency and a longer lifetime as compared to conventional switches, while at the same time eliminating transients . However, these solid-state circuit breakers were prone to erroneous tripping (presumably from cosmic rays), requiring them to reset and causing losses in experimental data. To gain momentum while already in flight,

7910-505: The exploration of the Moon, the robotic exploration of Mars, leading to a broad Mars Sample Return mission in which Europe should be involved as a full partner, and human missions beyond LEO in the longer term." In August 2019, the ESA and the Australian Space Agency signed a joint statement of intent "to explore deeper cooperation and identify projects in a range of areas including deep space, communications, navigation, remote asset management, data analytics and mission support." Details of

8023-455: The first landing on a moon other than Earth's Moon. At the end of its mission, the Cassini spacecraft executed its "Grand Finale": a number of risky passes through the gaps between Saturn and its inner rings. This phase aimed to maximize Cassini 's scientific outcome before the spacecraft was intentionally destroyed to prevent potential contamination of Saturn's moons if Cassini were to unintentionally crash into them when maneuvering

8136-438: The higher rotational velocity of the Earth at the equator compared to near the Earth's poles where rotational velocity approaches zero. Ariane 6 is a heavy lift expendable launch vehicle developed by Arianespace . The Ariane 6 entered into its inaugural flight campaign on 26 April 2024 with the flight conducted on 9 July 2024. Vega is the ESA's carrier for small satellites. Developed by seven ESA members led by Italy . It

8249-706: The idea of a joint NASA and ESA mission. He wrote to his counterpart at ESA, Roger Bonnet, strongly suggesting that ESA choose the Cassini mission from the three candidates at hand and promising that NASA would commit to the mission as soon as ESA did. At the time, NASA was becoming more sensitive to the strain that had developed between the American and European space programs as a result of European perceptions that NASA had not treated it like an equal during previous collaborations. NASA officials and advisers involved in promoting and planning Cassini–Huygens attempted to correct this trend by stressing their desire to evenly share any scientific and technology benefits resulting from

8362-529: The jurisdiction of national courts. Certain privileges and immunities are also specified in the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character of 1975,. which however has so far not been signed by 35 states and is thus not yet in force (status: 2022). Rather than by national jurisdiction, legal accountability

8475-411: The laborers. United Nations Environment Program(UNEP) is one of the UN's (United Nations) agencies and is an international organization that coordinates U.N. activities on the environment. An early prominent example of an international organization is the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, which was an international diplomatic conference to reconstitute the European political order after the downfall of

8588-541: The launch and operation of crewless exploration missions to other planets (such as Mars ) and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles ; and maintaining a major spaceport , the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou ( French Guiana ), France. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 6 will be operated through Arianespace with the ESA sharing in the costs of launching and further developing this launch vehicle. The agency

8701-535: The launch vehicle. The United States contributed $ 2.6 billion (80%), the ESA $ 500 million (15%), and the ASI $ 160 million (5%). However, these figures are from the press kit which was prepared in October 2000. They do not include inflation over the course of a very long mission, nor do they include the cost of the extended missions. The primary mission for Cassini was completed on July 30, 2008. The mission

8814-496: The material's radioactive decay was turned into electricity. Huygens was supported by Cassini during cruise, but used chemical batteries when independent. The probe contained a DVD with more than 616,400 signatures from citizens in 81 countries, collected in a public campaign. Until September 2017 the Cassini probe continued orbiting Saturn at a distance of between 8.2 and 10.2 astronomical units (1.23 × 10 and 1.53 × 10   km ; 760,000,000 and 950,000,000  mi ) from

8927-522: The mission. In part, this newfound spirit of cooperation with Europe was driven by a sense of competition with the Soviet Union , which had begun to cooperate more closely with Europe as ESA drew further away from NASA. Late in 1988, ESA chose Cassini–Huygens as its next major mission and the following year the program received major funding in the US. The collaboration not only improved relations between

9040-430: The number of IGOs in the world increased from about 60 in 1940 to about 350 in 1980, after which it has remained roughly constant. Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens Cassini–Huygens ( / k ə ˈ s iː n i ˈ h ɔɪ ɡ ən z / kə- SEE -nee HOY -gənz ), commonly called Cassini , was a space-research mission by NASA , the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send

9153-547: The orbiter. With the launch vehicle adapter and 3,132 kg (6,905 lb) of propellants at launch, the spacecraft had a mass of 5,600 kg (12,300 lb). The Cassini spacecraft was 6.8 meters (22 ft) high and 4 meters (13 ft) wide. Spacecraft complexity was increased by its trajectory (flight path) to Saturn, and by the ambitious science at its destination. Cassini had 1,630 interconnected electronic components , 22,000 wire connections, and 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) of cabling. The core control computer CPU

9266-868: The other 75%. The ESA has traditionally implemented a policy of "georeturn", where funds that ESA member states provide to the ESA "are returned in the form of contracts to companies in those countries." By 2015, the ESA was an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. The 2008 ESA budget amounted to €3.0 billion whilst the 2009 budget amounted to €3.6 billion. The total budget amounted to about €3.7 billion in 2010, €3.99 billion in 2011, €4.02 billion in 2012, €4.28 billion in 2013, €4.10 billion in 2014, €4.43 billion in 2015, €5.25 billion in 2016, €5.75 billion in 2017, €5.60 billion in 2018, €5.72 billion in 2019, €6,68 billion in 2020, €6.49 billion in 2021, €7.15 billion in 2022, €7.46 billion in 2023 and €7.79 billion in 2024. English and French are

9379-511: The parties for their administration, for example by setting up a joint committee . Other treaties have established an administrative apparatus which was not deemed to have been granted binding legal authority. The broader concept wherein relations among three or more states are organized according to certain principles they hold in common is multilateralism . Intergovernmental organizations differ in function, membership, and membership criteria. They have various goals and scopes, often outlined in

9492-472: The planet, 54 flybys of Titan and 11 flybys of Enceladus . In 2017, an encounter with Titan changed its orbit in such a way that, at closest approach to Saturn, it was only 3,000 km (1,900 mi) above the planet's cloudtops, below the inner edge of the D ring . This sequence of "proximal orbits" ended when its final encounter with Titan sent the probe into Saturn's atmosphere to be destroyed. Cassini–Huygens ' s origins date to 1982, when

9605-616: The potential environmental impact a launch failure might have (because of its plutonium power source) attempted to derail it through protests and lawsuits until and past its 1997 launch. The spacecraft was planned to be the second three-axis stabilized, RTG -powered Mariner Mark II , a class of spacecraft developed for missions beyond the orbit of Mars , after the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission, but budget cuts and project rescopings forced NASA to terminate CRAF development to save Cassini . As

9718-414: The probe itself which descended to Titan, and the probe support equipment (PSE) which remained attached to the orbiting spacecraft. The PSE includes electronics that track the probe, recover the data gathered during its descent, and process and deliver the data to the orbiter that transmits it to Earth. The core control computer CPU was a redundant MIL-STD-1750A control system. The data were transmitted by

9831-473: The probe on December 25, 2004; Huygens landed by parachute on Titan on January 14, 2005. The separation was facilitated by the SED (Spin/Eject device), which provided a relative separation speed of 0.35 metres per second (1.1 ft/s) and a spin rate of 7.5 rpm. It returned data to Earth for around 90 minutes, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System and

9944-537: The probe to collide with the Earth, NASA's complete environmental impact study estimated that, in the worst case (with an acute angle of entry in which Cassini would gradually burn up), a significant fraction of the 33 kg of nuclear fuel inside the RTGs would have been dispersed into the Earth's atmosphere so that up to five billion people (i.e. almost the entire terrestrial population) could have been exposed, causing up to an estimated 5,000 additional cancer deaths over

10057-406: The probe was no longer possible due to power loss or other communication issues at the end of its operational lifespan. The atmospheric entry of Cassini ended the mission, but analysis of the returned data will continue for many years. Scientists and individuals from 27 countries made up the joint team responsible for designing, building, flying and collecting data from the Cassini orbiter and

10170-864: The program rather than through competitive industry bids. This [has meant that] governments commit multiyear funding to the development with the expectation of a roughly 90% return on investment in the form of industrial workshare." ESA is proposing changes to this scheme by moving to competitive bids for the development of the Ariane 6 . Intergovernmental body Examples for international organizations include: UN General Assembly , World Trade Organization , African Development Bank , UN Economic and Social Council , UN Security Council , Asian Development Bank , International Bank for Reconstruction and Development , International Monetary Fund , International Finance Corporation , Inter-American Development Bank , United Nations Environment Programme. Scottish law professor James Lorimer has been credited with coining

10283-535: The protection of space assets", and two further high visibility projects (referred to as inspirators ) an icy moon sample return mission; and human space exploration. In the same year the recruitment process began for the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group . 1 July 2023 saw the launch of the Euclid spacecraft , developed jointly with the Euclid Consortium, after 10 years of planning and building it

10396-619: The purpose of realizing a common end". He distinguished between bilateral and multilateral organizations on one end and customary or conventional organizations on the other end. In his 1922 book An Introduction to the Study of International Organization , Potter argued that international organization was distinct from " international intercourse " (all relations between states), "international law" (which lacks enforcement) and world government . International Organizations are sometimes referred to as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), to clarify

10509-400: The six-month flyby. It produced the most detailed global color portrait of the planet yet (see image at right), in which the smallest visible features are approximately 60 km (37 mi) across. A major finding of the flyby, announced on March 6, 2003, was of Jupiter's atmospheric circulation. Dark "belts" alternate with light "zones" in the atmosphere, and scientists had long considered

10622-460: The space probe with enough momentum to travel all the way out to the asteroid belt , while the Sun's gravity pulled the space probe back into the inner Solar System. On August 18, 1999, at 03:28 UTC, the craft made a gravitational-assist flyby of the Earth. One hour and 20 minutes before closest approach, Cassini made its closest approach to the Earth's Moon at 377,000 kilometers, and it took

10735-461: The spacecraft. The mission was successful beyond expectations – NASA's Planetary Science Division Director, Jim Green , described Cassini-Huygens as a "mission of firsts" that has revolutionized human understanding of the Saturn system, including its moons and rings, and our understanding of where life might be found in the Solar System . Cassini ' s planners originally scheduled

10848-497: The structure and optical depth of the rings. Stellar occultation data from both the HSP and FUV channels confirmed the existence of water vapor plumes at the south pole of Enceladus, as well as characterized the composition of the plumes. Because of Saturn's distance from the Sun, solar arrays were not feasible as power sources for this space probe. To generate enough power, such arrays would have been too large and too heavy. Instead,

10961-410: The subsequent decades (0.0005 per cent, i.e. a fraction 0.000005, of a billion cancer deaths expected anyway from other causes; the product is incorrectly calculated elsewhere as 500,000 deaths). However, the chance of this happening were estimated to be less than one in one million, i.e. a chance of one person dying (assuming 5,000 deaths) as less than 1 in 200. NASA's risk analysis to use plutonium

11074-635: The term "international organization" in a 1871 article in the Revue de Droit International et de Legislation Compare . Lorimer use the term frequently in his two-volume Institutes of the Law of Nations (1883, 1884). Other early uses of the term were by law professor Walther Schucking in works published in 1907, 1908 and 1909, and by political science professor Paul S. Reinsch in 1911. In 1935, Pitman B. Potter defined international organization as "an association or union of nations established or recognized by them for

11187-449: The trajectory of the Cassini mission included several gravitational slingshot maneuvers: two fly-by passes of Venus , one more of the Earth, and then one of the planet Jupiter . The terrestrial flyby was the final instance when the probe posed any conceivable danger to human beings. The maneuver was successful, with Cassini passing by 1,171 km (728 mi) above the Earth on August 18, 1999. Had there been any malfunction causing

11300-796: The treaties that give rise to the organization (such as the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court ), which are normally supplemented by further multinational agreements and national regulations (for example the International Organizations Immunities Act in the United States). The organizations are thereby immune from

11413-697: The treaty or charter . Some IGOs developed to fulfill a need for a neutral forum for debate or negotiation to resolve disputes. Others developed to carry out mutual interests with unified aims to preserve peace through conflict resolution and better international relations , promote international cooperation on matters such as environmental protection , to promote human rights , to promote social development (education, health care ), to render humanitarian aid , and to economic development . Some are more general in scope (the United Nations ) while others may have subject-specific missions (such as INTERPOL or

11526-557: The two main superpowers. In 1958, only months after the Sputnik shock , Edoardo Amaldi (Italy) and Pierre Auger (France), two prominent members of the Western European scientific community, met to discuss the foundation of a common Western European space agency. The meeting was attended by scientific representatives from eight countries. The Western European nations decided to have two agencies: one concerned with developing

11639-676: The two official languages of the ESA. Additionally, official documents are also provided in German and documents regarding the Spacelab have been also provided in Italian. If found appropriate, the agency may conduct its correspondence in any language of a member state. The following table lists all the member states and adjunct members, their ESA convention ratification dates, and their contributions as of 2024: Previously associated members were Austria, Norway and Finland, all of which later joined

11752-622: The two space programs but also helped Cassini–Huygens survive congressional budget cuts in the United States. Cassini–Huygens came under fire politically in both 1992 and 1994, but NASA successfully persuaded the United States Congress that it would be unwise to halt the project after ESA had already poured funds into development because frustration on broken space exploration promises might spill over into other areas of foreign relations. The project proceeded politically smoothly after 1994, although citizens' groups concerned about

11865-410: The zones, with their pale clouds, to be areas of upwelling air, partly because many clouds on Earth form where air is rising. But analysis of Cassini imagery showed that individual storm cells of upwelling bright-white clouds, too small to see from Earth, pop up almost without exception in the dark belts. According to Anthony Del Genio of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies , "the belts must be

11978-605: Was a redundant system using the MIL-STD-1750A instruction set architecture . The main propulsion system consisted of one prime and one backup R-4D bipropellant rocket engine. The thrust of each engine was 490  N (110  lbf ) and the total spacecraft delta-v was 2,352 m/s (5,260 mph). Smaller monopropellant rockets provided attitude control. Cassini was powered by 32.7 kg (72 lb) of nuclear fuel, mainly plutonium dioxide (containing 28.3 kg (62 lb) of pure plutonium ). The heat from

12091-687: Was again extended in February 2010 with the Cassini Solstice Mission . The mission consisted of two main elements: the ASI/NASA Cassini orbiter, named for the Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini , discoverer of Saturn's ring divisions and four of its satellites; and the ESA-developed Huygens probe , named for the Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens , discoverer of Titan. The mission

12204-459: Was commonly called Saturn Orbiter Titan Probe (SOTP) during gestation, both as a Mariner Mark II mission and generically. Cassini-Huygens was a Flagship -class mission to the outer planets. The other planetary flagships include Galileo , Voyager , and Viking . Cassini had several objectives, including: Cassini–Huygens was launched on October 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 's Space Launch Complex 40 using

12317-478: Was developed from the ground up, due to the spacecraft using a more modern set of computers than previous missions. Therefore, Cassini was the first spacecraft to adopt mini-packets to reduce the complexity of the Telemetry Dictionary, and the software development process led to the creation of a Telemetry Manager for the mission. There were around 1088 channels (in 67 mini-packets) assembled in

12430-489: Was extended to June 2010 ( Cassini Equinox Mission). This studied the Saturn system in detail during the planet's equinox , which happened in August 2009. On February 3, 2010, NASA announced another extension for Cassini , lasting 6 1 ⁄ 2  years until 2017, ending at the time of summer solstice in Saturn's northern hemisphere ( Cassini Solstice Mission). The extension enabled another 155 revolutions around

12543-466: Was found to recover the mission. The trajectory of Cassini was altered to reduce the line of sight velocity and therefore the doppler shift. Cassini' s subsequent trajectory was identical to the previously planned one, although the change replaced two orbits prior to the Huygens mission with three, shorter orbits. The Cassini space probe performed two gravitational-assist flybys of Venus on April 26, 1998, and June 24, 1999. These flybys provided

12656-592: Was founded with the ESA Convention in 1975, when ESRO was merged with ELDO. The ESA had ten founding member states: Belgium , Denmark , France , West Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , and the United Kingdom . These signed the ESA Convention in 1975 and deposited the instruments of ratification by 1980, when the convention came into force. During this interval

12769-470: Was publicly criticized by Michio Kaku on the grounds that casualties, property damage, and lawsuits resulting from a possible accident, as well as the potential use of other energy sources, such as solar and fuel cells, were underestimated. The Cassini spacecraft was capable of transmitting in several different telemetry formats. The telemetry subsystem is perhaps the most important subsystem, because without it there could be no data return. The telemetry

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