Shaun at ESA ECSAT

Shaun the Sheep tries out a Virtual Reality (VR) headset at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), ESA’s newest facility and its first in the UK. Based at the Haaarwell Campus in Oxfordshire and opened in 2009, ESA ECSAT has a focus on telecommunications and business applications but also supports teams working in climate change, technology and science. With satellite communications, Earth observation and navigation data, VR and AR experiences can be extended beyond the reach of terrestrial networks, feature up-to-the-minute live mapping and provide specific location-based information.

ECSAT is also home to ESA’s Moonlight initiative, which is enabling private space firms in Europe and Canada to offer a lunar telecommunication and navigation service by creating a constellation of satellites around the Moon.