Proba-2 flies into its Russian launch site

Proba-2 has reached Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on 3 September, where it is being prepared for launch this November. Among the smallest satellites ever built by ESA, it was transported there aboard an Ilyushin cargo plane.

Proba-2 is a mission of ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), building on almost eight years of operational experience gained with Proba-1. While standard satellites are lorry-sized structures, the Probas occupy less than a cubic metre. But this small scale does not limit their capabilities: Proba-2 carries a total of 17 new technology developments and four scientific experiments, focused on solar and space weather observations.