Europe now has its own eye in orbit ⎮ Vyoma's Flamingo-1 satellite completes in-space commissioning
Photo: © Vyoma
Thousands of satellites. Millions of pieces of debris. And until recently, Europe relied largely on others to tell it what was happening up there.
Vyoma is changing that. Its Flamingo-1 satellite has completed in-space commissioning, confirming that every system on board is working as designed.
A telescope pointed the other way
Most satellites look down at Earth. Flamingo-1 looks around. It carries the first large-aperture telescope Europe has ever launched to watch space from space. It spots, tracks and characterises what is moving in orbit, from small debris to satellites that change course.
Once its payload is commissioned, Vyoma's own mission team will run it around the clock.
This is only the first Flamingo
Flamingo-2 is already in production, and it's a big step up: it can detect objects just centimetres across in low Earth orbit. It's set to launch in the first half of 2027. Ten more Flamingos will follow in 2028 and 2029.
Together, they will give Europe something it has never had: its own independent map of what's happening above our heads.
