ExactView-1, previously known as ADS-1b, was built under contract for ExactEarth and will become the fifth deployed satellite in ExactEarth’s advanced vessel monitoring satellite constellation.

   Com Dev Canada acted as prime contractor and Com Dev Europe supplied the advanced AIS transceiver payload system for the mission. The satellite’s design is based on the SSTL-100 platform, adapted for the mission with an additional deployable solar panel providing extra power for the Com Dev-designed AIS receiver payload.

   “The ExactView-1 satellite is currently undergoing pre-launch testing in Baikonur,” SSTL said in a company statement. “Once launched, we will oversee a two-month in-orbit commissioning campaign from our U.K. ground station in collaboration with ExactEarth and Com Dev engineers.”