A new lifesize replica of ESA’s CryoSat ice mission has landed at Space Expo, the public visitor centre of ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands.
Launched in 2010, the ice satellite’s distinctive shape is dominated by its double radar antennas, allowing it to chart changes in global ice cover thickness over time.
This new model replaces a display of the eight-tonne Envisat, Europe’s largest ever environmental satellite, which was taken down in 2015 because of weather damage.
Space Expo is Europe’s first permanent space visitor centre, located beside ESA’s technical centre in Noordwijk, hosting historic European space exhibits. Space Expo is participating in the annual Open Day of ESA in the Netherlands on Sunday 8 October, with bargain half-price tickets on the day.