ESA Shield

ESA Shield is a science-based Planetary Protection Simulator in which you lead the European Space Agency’s Space Safety Department and protect Earth from cosmic hazards. You monitor threats such as asteroids, space debris and space weather, assess their danger and deploy countermeasures. Its strategy combines tower defense and roguelite elements.

Detect threats

Build and upgrade ground-based monitoring systems, including telescopes and radar arrays, to scan the skies, expand coverage and improve detection precision. You can also build and launch satellites to form a global monitoring network. Satellite components, mission goals and orbital paths are yours to choose, while balancing cost, stability and lifetime.

Respond to hazards

Threats behave differently, affect systems in different ways and call for distinct monitoring and defense approaches. You make decisions with limited data, weighing the risks of bold actions against more conservative choices. Defenses include launching interceptors, triggering system shutdowns and sending clean-up bots into decaying orbits.

Research and improve

Successful missions earn resources that you use to unlock technologies and upgrade systems. Research covers real-world technology from past missions, current prototypes and near-future plans, including telescopes and deflection rockets. The game is an outreach initiative for the European Space Agency, focused on spacecraft safety.