European Space Agency

Flight record

Counts are launches filed under ESA’s own name in The Space Devs’ Launch Library register. They are not a count of missions or payloads: a spacecraft that flew on a contracted vehicle is credited to the operator that flew it.

Who flies for them, and who they fly for

An operator owns the rocket and runs the count, and it is the operator’s name the launch schedule filters by. A customer funds the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. Plenty of organisations are both. ESA is counted below in whichever role the current manifest actually gives it.

No scheduled flight in the current window names ESA while being operated by somebody else.

How this is counted: a scheduled launch is treated as a customer flight when this organisation’s name or abbreviation appears in the launch name, mission name or programme and somebody else is flying it. Mission descriptions are not searched, and the window is one batch of the next launches worldwide, reaching to 2026-12-31 00:00:00Z — so both counts are a floor, not a complete manifest.

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

  T-··:··:··

  2026-12-31 00:00:00Z

  TBDT-0 known to: Q4Orbit: SubVehicle file

“T-0 known to” is the register’s own precision on the launch time — a date good only to the month is shown as such rather than counted down as if it were exact. A go-probability appears only where the operator published one for that flight; Delta-V does not calculate it and it is not a forecast made here.

Common questions

How many launches has European Space Agency flown?

European Space Agency has 7 launches on record under its own name, of which 6 succeeded and 1 failed. The register counts launches flown under an operator's own name, not missions or payloads it contributed to.

What is European Space Agency's success rate?

European Space Agency has a lifetime launch success rate of 85.7%, calculated as 6 successful flights out of 7 attempts. Its current run is 5 consecutive successes.

When is European Space Agency's next launch?

European Space Agency's next launch inside Delta-V's manifest window is Themis Demonstrator | T1H-1, scheduled for 2026-12-31 00:00:00Z from Launch Complex 3B. The register files that time with a precision of Q4. A launch time is a no-earlier-than target and can move.

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

European Space Agency has 7 launches flown under its own name in the launch register. It is the operator on 1 flight in the current manifest window. An operator owns the rocket and runs the count; a customer funds the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. The operator filter on the launch schedule lists only the former, which is why a well-known agency can be central to a flight and still not appear on it.

Where is European Space Agency based?

European Space Agency is based in France and the register classifies it as a multinational operator. It was founded in 1975.