The ESAIL microsatellite for tracking ships at sea has completed its latest environmental and system performance tests and set off for Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
On 17 February the satellite left Luxembourg, where it was built by LuxSpace under an ESA Partnership Project with the Canadian operator exactEarth, sponsored by the Luxembourg Space Agency and other ESA member states.
ESA’s Partnership Projects aim to develop sustainable end-to-end systems, right up to in-orbit validation.
The satellite is being transported aboard a Cargolux 747 aircraft to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.