ATHENS – [ANA-MPA] [Photos: SpaceX]
Five new Greek microsatellites were placed into orbit successfully on Monday at 14:02 (Greek time) through a Falcon 9 Space X rocket launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Greek satellites are part of the ‘National Microsatellite Program’, marking one more step forward in the expansion of Greek innovation and technical know-how.
The Greek satellites were incorporated in the rocket through the Exolaunch and D-Orbit companies and are now orbiting around the Earth, confirming the national program’s continuing progress.
They are cube-shaped satellites (cubeSats) designed to try out innovative space technologies developed in Greece. On the Greek side, the mission included two research cubeSats (Ermis-1 and Ermis-2) developed by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with OQ Hellas and other national agencies, as well as three more experimental cubeSats (Ermis-3, PeakSat and OptiSat) developed by the University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Planetek, respectively.
Implemented by the Digital Governance and AI Ministry, the program is also supported by the European Space Agency and funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
