The Nanosat 01, sometimes written as NanoSat-1 or NanoSat 01, was an artificial satellite developed by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) and launched 18 December 2004. Considered a nano satellite for its weight of less than 20 kg, its main mission was forwarding communications between far reaching points of the Earth such as Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base from mainland Spain. This was possible due to its polar orbit and altitude of 650 km above sea level. During an operational run the data obtained in the Antarctic would be uploaded to the satellite during its fly by and then, downloaded in Spain when satellite reached the Iberian Peninsula.

Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), low Earth orbit (LEO) or further into space. The launch vehicle had a streak of 82 consecutive successful launches between 9 April 2003 and 12 December 2017. Since 2014, Ariane 6, a direct successor system, is in development.