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The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is the control center for the European Space Agency (ESA) − “Europe‘s gateway to space.“ The 800 staff and contractors monitor ESA satellites and the global network of nine ESA ground stations. Since its foundation in 1967, ESOC has overseen 55 ESA satellites and supported myriad missions by other national and international organizations. The most important current ESOC missions are the Mars and Venus Express, Rosetta and Envisat, Europe‘s eight-ton environ mental observation flagship in space. ESOC can not only monitor more than 10 satellites in routine orbit, but also has the capacity to simultaneously guide other satellites through the tricky “Launch and Early Orbit Phase“ (LEOP) between the separation from a launcher rocket to the achievement of routine flight orbit. The LEOP is one of the biggest challenges in space travel. A network of nine ESA ground stations, as well as collaboration with the space facilities of CNES, NASA, JAXA and NSC, allows for control of satellite flight and orbit al direction. Once this is achieved, a dedicated control room takes over the daily flight and payload operations of the satellite. ESOC‘s work begins long before the rocket‘s launch. It is involved in the selection and computation of potential orbits, the flight paths of rockets and the launch window. ESOC experts calculate positions, speeds, flight attitudes and develop software and data management.
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