Luxembourg-based start-up SkyfloX has received the go-ahead from the European Space Agency (ESA) to start the final phase of the ESA co-funded pilot deployment project to develop services using its revolutionary aircraft-based Earth observation system ORCA.

SkyfloX, an alumnus of the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Programme (ESA BIC), successfully finalised the first phase of the ESA pilot project, supported under the ESA Business Applications Programme, which finalised the design of the equipment to be mounted under the tail section of commercial airliner aircraft. In this effort, SkyfloX coordinated the work between major European airline partners Transavia and Luxair, as well as strategic aerospace players such as Germany-based Safran Engineering Services and Kampf Telescope Optics, Luxembourg’s Euro- Composites and EmTroniX, and Swedish Spacemetric.

SkyfloX correspondingly initiated the certification procedure at the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to allow the installation of the equipment on commercial aircraft.