IOD-2 satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space for ESA’s Celeste mission, lifted off today from New Zealand

Two satellites, part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Celeste in orbit demonstration mission, were launched at 10:14 CET today, atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand. The two satellites separated from the launcher about an hour later. This marks the beginning of their early operations phase, during which mission control gets them ready for life in orbit. One of them, named IOD-2, was built by Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%). More

(Source: Thales Alenia Space - Mar 29)