The European Space Agency emerged from the ashes of two separate organizations in 1975. The European Launcher Development Organisation and the European Space Research Organisation merged to create this new entity after facing chronic underfunding and diverging national interests.
Ariane 1 marked the beginning of Europe's independent launch capability in 1979 while Ariane 6 entered its inaugural flight campaign on the 26th of April 2024 with the actual flight conducted on the 9th of July 2024. Vega completed its maiden launch from Kourou on the 13th of February 2012 and Vega-C launched successfully for the first time on the 13th of July 2022.
Giotto became ESA's first deep-space mission in 1986 studying comets Halley and Grigg, Skjellerup. Rosetta arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a comet while its lander Philae performed the first-ever landing on a comet that same year.
ESA headquarters located in Paris France serves as administrative center for the organization. Guiana Space Centre in Kourou French Guiana remains Europe's primary launch site since 1964 while ESTEC buildings in Noordwijk Netherlands host science missions based at this critical facility.
By 2024 total budget reached €7.79 billion reflecting increased investment across all sectors. The 2008 budget amounted to €3.0 billion growing to €3.6 billion by 2009 before climbing steadily through subsequent years.