ESAIL

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ESAIL
Mission typeMaritime tracking
Operator European Space Agency
Luxembourg Luxspace
Canada exactEarth
COSPAR ID2020-061B
Start of mission
Launch date3 September 2020
RocketVega flight VV16
Launch siteGuiana Space Centre
End of mission
Decay date3 March 2025
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeSun-synchronous
Altitude515 km
Not to be confused with Electric sail.

ESAIL was a small satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with LuxSpace and ExactEarth.[1][2][3] Its objective was worldwide tracking of ships using their automatic identification systems (AIS)[4][5][6] for fisheries monitoring, fleet management, environmental protection, and security monitoring.[7][8][9] The satellite was launched in September 2020 on the Vega flight VV16 from Guiana Space Centre.[10][11][12][13][14] In a record-breaking technology demonstration, the satellite managed to process more than 2,000,000 messages from 70,000 different ships in a single day, representing a 15% to 20% improvement over previous satellites.[15][16][17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1st High-performance Microsatellite Made in Luxembourg Launches". Chronicle.lu. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  2. ^ "ESAIL maritime satellite ready for launch". space-agency.public.lu. 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  3. ^ "Watching the ships go by, from space". space-agency.public.lu. 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  4. ^ "ESAIL maritime satellite launched". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  5. ^ "ESAIL". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  6. ^ "SatNOGS DB - ESAIL". db.satnogs.org. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  7. ^ Boucher, Marc (2020-06-20). "In focus - The ship tracking ESAIL satellite". SpaceQ Media Inc. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  8. ^ "ESAIL Maritime Microsatellite - eoPortal". www.eoportal.org. Archived from the original on 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  9. ^ "Satellites for safer seas". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  10. ^ "exactEarth Announces Successful Launch of the ESAIL Microsatellite". SpaceRef.
  11. ^ "DLR – ESAIL microsatellite launched with satellite platform". www.dlr.de. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  12. ^ "ESAIL Satellite Mission Summary | CEOS Database". database.eohandbook.com. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  13. ^ "ExactEarth Announces Successful Launch Of The ESAIL Microsatellite | Ocean News & Technology". 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  14. ^ "ESAIL's first map of global shipping". Space Daily. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  15. ^ "ESAIL Microsatellite Captures 2,000,000 Messages From 70,000 Ships at Sea in a Single Day". SciTechDaily. 2021-04-03. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  16. ^ Kellner, Jonas (2021-04-27). "Rocket Factory Augsburg signs further launch contracts". Rocket Factory Augsburg. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
  17. ^ "Rocket Factory Augsburg unterzeichnet weitere Startverträge". OHB SE (in German). Retrieved 2025-11-24.
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