In the framework of IIMEO the on-board processing will first be demonstrated using a motorised sailplane (operated by OHB) instead of satellites.

The plane has a wingspan of 23 metres and can carry a 60-kilogram sensor pod on each wing. The sensing equipment used for IIMEO consists of nadir and oblique view cameras, acquisition computers that query the cameras and encode their results, and a separate SAR acquisition computer that is responsible for generating images from raw SAR data. One of the wing pods also contains an IMU and a GNSS sensor unit to provide motion, altitude and localisation estimates required for SAR image processing and generation.

The on-board processing unit is housed in the cockpit. It carries out most of the processes to detect changes and anomalies in the SAR and VIS images of the railway tracks, both of which indicate defects. The communication link to the ground is also located in the cockpit.