European Space Operations Centre

European Space Operations Centre

The European Space Operations Centre, or ESOC, is where people help run many space missions for the European Space Agency. It is in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC is like a big control room where teams watch over spacecraft after they leave Earth.

ESOC works on many exciting space missions. Some travel to planets and the Sun, like Mars Express and Solar Orbiter. Others look at stars and the universe, such as Gaia. There are also missions that watch Earth from space, like CryoSat-2.

One important job at ESOC is to send commands to spacecraft and receive information from them. They use a network of stations around the world called ESTRACK. These stations are in places like Kourou in French Guiana and Kiruna in Sweden.

ESOC opened in 1967 and has grown to have about 800 people working there. They use special computers to control spacecraft and make sure they are safe. ESOC helps us learn more about our solar system, stars, and our planet Earth.