ESA, the European Space Agency, is the body responsible for coordinating space activities in Europe. It was established in 1975, taking over the rights and obligations of two earlier space-related bodies, the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) and the European Organization for the Development and Construction of Space Vehicle Launchers (ELDO). It now coordinates space activities in 13 member countries (see above). In addition, Finland is an associate member of ESA, while Canada is a 'cooperating state'. Among its operational facilities, ESTEC is responsible for the study, design, development and testing of spacecraft. ESOC is in charge of satellite operations after launch, and tracking and control facilities at other ESA ground stations. ESRIN houses ESA's main information retrieval service and Earthnet, which collects, processes and distributes images and data from remote-sensing satellites.
