European Space Agency

Historical eventDecember 192013

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency's spacecraft Gaia was launched with the goal of constructing the largest and most precise star catalogue ever made.

Everything on December 19Original source
Photo: NASA · Public domain

In context

When
Thursday, December 19 201313 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
21st century · 2010s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1975-05-30.

Place: France.

Type: intergovernmental organization, space agency, and international organization.

Founded / initiated by: Belgium, Denmark, France, and West Germany.

Timeline

Follows: European Launcher Development Organisation.

What happened

The European Space Agency is a 23-member international organisation devoted to space exploration. It has its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 3,000 people globally as of 2025. ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2026 annual budget was around €8.3 billion.

December 19 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1997Titanic (1997 film)
  2. 1998Bill Clinton
  3. 1999Space Shuttle Discovery
  4. 20011998–2002 Argentine great depression
  5. 2005Sucha Beskidzka
  6. 2005Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101
  7. 2012Park Geun-hye
  8. 2013Gaia (spacecraft)
  9. 2013European Space Agency
  10. 20162016 Berlin truck attack
  11. 2016Andrei Karlov

Also in 2013

  • May 112013 Reyhanlı car bombingsTwo car bombs by unknown perpetrators exploded in Reyhanlı, Turkey, resulting in 52 killed and 140 injured.
  • September 12NASANASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space.
  • September 13TalibanTaliban insurgents attack the United States consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, with two members of the Afghan National Police reported dead…
  • September 15Ivan KuleshThe Belarusian serial killer Ivan Kulesh murdered two saleswomen in Lida.
  • September 16Washington Navy Yard shootingA lone gunman fatally shot twelve people and injured three others at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C.
  • September 17Grand Theft Auto VGrand Theft Auto V earns more than half a billion dollars on its first day of release.
  • September 18Via RailA VIA Rail train crashes into a double-decker bus at a train station in Ottawa, Canada, killing six people and injuring 35 others.
  • November 17Tornado outbreak of November 17, 2013An outbreak of 77 confirmed tornadoes occurred in seven U.S. states; it became the largest November tornado outbreak in Illinois and Indi…

Everything we record for 2013 →

Sources

Cite this page

“European Space Agency”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/european-space-agency-2013-december-19, accessed October 25, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did European Space Agency happen?

December 19 2013 — 13 years ago, on a Thursday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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