Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has completed thermal vacuum tests on three of the five RapidEye spacecraft at RAL. The remaining two spacecraft will complete testing by the middle of August.

RapidEye is a small satellite commercial mission that will enable unprecedented global monitoring of the Earth's surface. Each spacecraft measures less than 1-metre cube and weighs only 150kg, carrying a Jena Optroniks’ multi-spectral imaging payload providing 6.5m resolution. The five satellite buses have been designed, built and integrated with the payloads by SSTL forMacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA).  MDA is the prime contractor for the RapidEye mission, under a contract with RapidEye AG, through the Canadian Commercial Corporation – a Canadian Federal Government Crown Corporation.

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