PROBA-1 – 25th anniversary of successful in-orbit operations

Photo credits: European Space Agency

SHERBROOKE, Quebec, Canada, [October 22th, 2026] – October 22th marks the 25th anniversary of PROBA-1’s successful in-orbit operations.

The project, officially known as “PRoject for On-Board Autonomy-1,” was an Earth -observation mission and a technology demonstration mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) whose main objective was the demonstration of the benefits of space autonomy, including the reduction in the cost of mission operations and a better on-board reliability and performance. Verhaert Design and Development in Belgium (then renamed QinetiQ Space and finally Redwire Space) was the prime contractor for the satellite. It was the first space mission to which NGC contributed.

The autonomous Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) software developed for PROBA-1 was at the origin of NGC’s success in adapting the AOCS software to seven other ESA satellites launched since PROBA-1.

Planned for a two-year mission, PROBA-1 provided Earth-observation data from October 22, 2001 until the end of the mission’s operational phase in December 2022. The satellite is still functional and is used to test various algorithms. It is currently the ESA Earth observation satellite that has the longest lifespan in orbit.

NGC is proud to have contributed to the success of the PROBA-1 mission and to have helped achieve its objectives of in-orbit demonstration and evaluation of onboard operational autonomy. This success contributed to several other satellites, including Proba-3, launched in December 2024, and the Sentinel-3 series of three satellites, whose most recent satellite was launched in September 2026.

To learn more about NGC’s contribution to PROBA-1: https://ngcaerospace.com/en/achievements/proba-1/