Follow the Celeste launch campaign
The first two satellites of ESA’s Celeste LEO-PNT demonstration mission are scheduled to lift off no earlier than 24 March, aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the company’s Māhia Launch Complex in New Zealand.
This page chronicles the milestones leading up to the inaugural launch of ESA’s first satellite navigation initiative in low Earth orbit (LEO): Celeste IOD-1 and IOD-2. Celeste will demonstrate how a complementary layer flying closer to Earth can enhance Europe’s current Galileo system in medium Earth orbit (MEO), boosting the overall resilience, enhancing its performance and opening opportunities for new service capabilities directly from LEO.
This article was last updated on 4 March 2026.
Milestone 1: arrival in New Zealand
The two satellites – developed by GMV and Thales Alenia Space – were transported first from Madrid, Spain and L’Aquila, Italy, respectively, to Berlin where they were integrated in their launcher interface pod at the Exolaunch premises. They then landed separately in New Zealand, with IOD-1 arriving on 20 February and IOD-2 arriving on 3 March, marking the official start of the launch campaign.
After landing, both satellites were transferred by road from the Auckland airport to Rocket Lab’s Māhia Launch Complex.