The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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An example of ship tracking made possible using space-based AIS that is not possible using its ground-based equivalent. The track is colour coded in time, ranging through red, blue and yellow with increasing time. The ship in this example has been tracked for the entire duration of the first NORAIS operational period: red dots indicate ship position in June, green dots indicate ship position in July, blue dots indicate ship position in August and yellow dots indicate ship position in September. The one red dot off the coast of Africa is due to a clock reset on NORAIS.
From the static AIS messahes received, the ship reported its destination as Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina, then San Vicente, Quintero and Talcahuanco in Chile, back to Comodoro Rivadavia, then back to Talcahuano and Quintero, onto Rio de Janeiro and Angra Dos Reis in Brazil, across to Sines in Portual and then down to Qua Iboe in Nigeria, and this corresponds well to the track followed.