A Soyez-2 rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Its cargo includes the ICARUS onboard computer, the future brain of the German-Russian animal observation system.

The central computer unit of Icarus will be installed in the pressurized cabin of the ISS international space station’s Russian module. In future, it will be responsible for decoding the signals received by the Icarus antenna and separating the different data streams from each other.

The plan is for the onboard computer to be connected and switched on after the antenna goes into operation at the beginning of February 2018. The researchers working with Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology can then test the communication chain between the onboard computer and the user data centre on Earth for the first time and – if necessary – remedy any teething troubles.

A new era in behaviour research is dawning with the ICARUS global animal observation system of Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. Researchers will then be able to observe the migration of small animals around the globe, investigate the spread of diseases, and maybe even forecast natural disasters.

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The next steps for ICARUS are already planned:

Dec 2017: Short functional tests and packing of the Antenna Block at RSCE/Moscow

Jan 2018: Shipment of the ICARUS equipment to Baikonur and pre-launch tests

Jan 2018: Start of the crew training in Moscow

Feb 11, 2018: Launch of the Antenna Block at Baikonur

Mar/Apr 2018: Flight of the trained Cosmonauts to the ISS

Jul 2018: Start of the ICARUS operational phase

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More information at www.animal-sensors.mpg.de/en

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