ESA Launches First Celeste Satellites to Test LEO Navigation Layer
In March 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the first two satellites In-Orbit Demonstrators(IOD)-1 and IOD-2 of its Celeste mission from the Rocket Lab launch site, New Zealand, to demonstrate a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) navigation layer.
In March 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the first two satellites In-Orbit Demonstrators(IOD)-1 and IOD-2 of its Celeste mission from the Rocket Lab launch site, New Zealand, to demonstrate a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) navigation layer.
- The mission aims to complement Europe’s existing Galileo (Medium Earth Orbit ,MEO) and EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) systems, marking a shift towards a multi-layered navigation architecture.
About Celeste Mission:
Objective : The mission launched to test a LEO-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) system to enhance the resilience, accuracy and coverage of satellite navigation services.
Satellites Launch: Two satellites, In-Orbit Demonstrators(IOD)-1 and IOD-2 , were launched under the mission, weighing 20 kilogram(kg) and 30 kg respectively, and are operating in LEO at an altitude of 500–560 kilometres (km).
Development : The satellites were developed by GMV (Spain) and Thales Alenia Space (France), and launched using the Electron rocket by Rocket Lab (New Zealand), adopting a New Space approach for faster and more flexible satellite deployment.
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