Located in Frascati, Italy, ESRIN -- known as the ESA Centre for Earth Observation -- is one of the five ESA specialised centres situated in Europe.
The mission and payload operations of ESA's Earth observation satellites are managed here and ESRIN is the primary source for the acquisition, distribution and exploitation of data from these and other non-ESA satellites.
Within ESRIN, a key role in Europe's space effort has been undertaken with the development of the new small launcher, Vega, which took its maiden voyage in February 2012.
ESRIN designs and develops all ESA-wide software for corporate applications and is responsible for developing security measures for classified space programmes.
The European Centre for Space Records (ECSR) is also based at ESRIN. The ECSR appraises and preserves the valuable technical records of completed ESA projects together with their management archives to safeguard this valuable knowledge for generations to come.
Finally, ESRIN is home to ESA's Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre. The centre serves as the central access point to a network of European near-Earth object data sources and information providers being established under ESA's Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Programme.
For more information, visit http://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESRIN
