European small satellite manufacturer, LuxSpace, has announced that it has signed a contract with ESA at Farnborough Air Show, UK for the manufacturing of two micro satellites. The contract is established as a private public partnership, where the final customer – exactEarth of Canada – will make significant investments aside ESA and the participating European companies. The total volume for the two satellites is in the order of €30 million. The two satellites will be launched in 2018 and 2019 respectively. They will have a weight of approximately 100 kg and will provide very high quality AIS data for vessel detection.
