The second Estonian satellite, Estcube-2, has left the Tõravere observatory building near Tartu, Estonia, for its voyage to the Kourou space centre via Brno in the Czech Republic.
Estcube-2 is a 3U Cubesat with a big mission: it aims to demonstrate deorbiting with plasma brake technology (from Finland!) and qualify a deep-space nano spacecraft platform for future missions using the electric solar wind sail. Additionally, ESTCube-2 carries two Earth observation cameras and a materials testing experiment.
If all goes well, Estcube-2 will be launched into space in September 2023 by Vega rocket from Kourou.
Read more about the mission here: https://www.estcube.eu/project/ESTCube-2
(PS. Our WISA Woodsat has strong connections to Tartu as well. Our satellite will carry an experiment from Estonian Captain Corrosion for measuring atomic oxygen in space.