European Space Agency

Flight record

These are launches under ESA’s own name in The Space Devs’ Launch Library. They don’t count missions or payloads. A spacecraft that flew on someone else’s rocket counts for the operator that flew it.

Operator or customer

An operator owns the rocket and runs the count, and the launch schedule filters by operator. A customer pays for the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. Some organisations are both. Below, ESA is counted in whichever role the current schedule gives it.

No scheduled flight names ESA with someone else flying it.

How we count it: a scheduled launch counts as a customer flight when this organisation’s name or abbreviation is in the launch name, mission name or programme, and someone else is flying it. We don’t search mission descriptions, and we only see the schedule as far as it goes, which is 2039-12-31 00:00:00Z. So treat both counts as a minimum.

About ESA

The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.

Upcoming launches

• Themis Demonstrator | T1H-1

  Themis Demonstrator · Esrange Space Center

  Q4 2026

  TBDNET ±1 QUARTEROrbit: SubVehicle file

The label on each flight says how exact its launch time is. If the date is only known to the month, you’ll see the month and no countdown. A weather go-probability only shows when Launch Library has one for that flight. EveryLaunch doesn’t work it out.

ESA in the archive

From NASA's public image library and Wikimedia Commons. Each photo shows the credit its licence asks for and links back to where it came from.

Common questions

How many launches has European Space Agency flown?

European Space Agency has flown 7 launches under its own name. 6 succeeded and 1 failed. That counts launches it flew itself, not missions or payloads it contributed to.

What is European Space Agency's success rate?

85.7%. That's 6 successful flights out of 7 attempts. Its last 5 launches in a row have succeeded.

When is European Space Agency's next launch?

Themis Demonstrator | T1H-1, set for Q4 2026 from Launch Complex 3B. Launch Library files only the fourth quarter, so the date is a placeholder. Launch times are no-earlier-than targets and can move.

Does European Space Agency fly its own rockets, or buy launches from another operator?

European Space Agency has flown 7 launches under its own name. It's the operator on 1 scheduled flight. An operator owns the rocket and runs the count. A customer pays for the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. The operator filter on the launch schedule only lists operators, so a well-known agency can own a mission and still not show up there.

Where is European Space Agency based?

France. Launch Library lists it as a multinational operator, founded in 1975.