Smallest ESA satellite readied for launch

PARIS, July 6 (UPI) -- Proba-2, one of the smallest satellites the European Space Agency has built, is being readied for shipment to the Plesetsk spaceport in Russia.

ESA officials said the satellite is the second in the ESA's Project for On Board Autonomy series.

"While standard satellites are truck-sized structures, the Proba satellites have a volume of less than one cubic meter," the ESA said in a statement. "But this small scale does not limit their functionality: Proba-2 incorporates a total of 17 new technological developments and four scientific experiments, focused on solar and space weather observations."

As part of the ESA's strategy to reduce mission costs, officials said the satellite will be placed into orbit aboard the same rocket carrying the space agency's full-sized Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Earth Explorer satellite.

The two satellites are scheduled to be launched Nov. 2.