euesa1-10, Exercise 1: A one-paragraph history

Model answer:

ESA was formed in the mid-1970s from two earlier bodies, ESRO for science and ELDO for launchers, after a 1973 bargain among the largest European countries (Chapter 2). Europe's launchers, the Ariane family flying from Kourou, began in 1979 and survived the failure of Ariane 5's first flight in 1996, but a gap opened in the 2020s when Ariane 5 retired and Ariane 6 was delayed (Chapter 4). Its science missions include Giotto, Huygens and Rosetta, and the British Beagle 2 lander rode on Mars Express to Mars in 2003 and was found on the surface in 2015 (Chapter 5). The war in Ukraine ended Soyuz launches at Kourou and ExoMars with Russia, while Brexit left the UK in ESA but changed its role in EU programmes (Chapter 9).

Any accurate facts from each of the four chapters are acceptable. Check dates against ESA's pages.