October 22nd 2001 was a day to remember, a day when all eyes were on the successful launching of PROBA-1 (Project for On-Board Autonomy) – the first 100% Belgian micro-satellite – from the island of Sriharikota in India. Conceived initially to demonstrate the autonomous capabilities of an intelligent platform in orbit and the application of new technologies, this satellite also provides high resolution multi-spectral images to the Earth Observation Department of the European Space Agency (ESA) and is operating perfectly well.

PROBA-1 is a prime example of Belgian expertise in Space: with its mass of a hundred kilos, this spacecraft has been built by the firm Qinetiq Space NV (formerly Verhaert) in Kruibeke with the control software developed by the Spacebel.

This is a major success for Spacebel as we have, since October 22nd 2001 joined the closed group of companies having developed the entire on-board software of a satellite.