The Tara polar station successfully launched in France

Tara polar station, a scientific base, was successfully launched in Cherbourg, northern France. A drifting laboratory launching from its shipyard this month ahead of its first ocean trials, is built to withstand Arctic conditions year-round, over and over again.

Conceived by the Tara Ocean Foundation and funded mostly by the French government, the $23 million vessel is scheduled to carry researchers on a series of 2-year-long transpolar voyages beginning in 2026.

Arctic researchers hope a more continuous presence will fill gaps in their understanding of polar ecosystems—and how climate change is altering them.A futuristic floating laboratory packed with sensors, the Tara polar station is due to drift in the Arctic from 2026 to 2045, to improve scientific knowledge of this particularly threatened region.