European Space Operations Centre

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The ESOC Main Control Room (MCR) in Darmstadt, Germany

Centre in Darmstadt, Germany

The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is responsible for controlling ESA satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany. It is Mission Control for most of the space projects of the ESA. ESOC also houses the Ground Facilities Control Centre (GFCC) that is responsible for remote operation of the ESTRACK network of Ground Stations and antennas.

Currently ESOC is operating the following spacecraft: ERS-2, XMM-Newton, the four Cluster spacecraft, Envisat, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, Rosetta, Venus Express, GOCE, Herschel and Planck.

Recent high-profile missions that were controlled from ESOC include SMART-1 and Huygens.

Projects under preparation include: LISA Pathfinder, Cryosat-2, ADM-Aeolus, SWARM, the Sentinal series and Gaia.

Recently controlled through LEOP, and then handed over to EUMETSAT was MetOp-A.

This centre is also responsible for the development of the technology infrastructure it requires to support existing and planned missions. Arguably^{[weasel words]} its most important technology asset is the Space Control and Operations Software (SCOS 2000), an adaptable software infrastructure for monitoring and controlling the various spacecraft.