ESA tracking antenna Malindi

For the launch of LISA Pathfinder (LPF), the injection strategy imposed by the Vega launcher requires an independent tracking terminal for X-band communications support at an equatorial region, in addition to Kourou’s 15 m ESTRACK station. A 2-m X-band terminal (MAL-X) was developed under a contract with Vitrociset Belgium Sprl and deployed at the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) Broglio Space Center (BSC) in Malindi (Kenya) in 2015.