Teaching remote sensing in higher education has been traditionally restricted in lecture and computer-aided laboratory activities. This paper presents and evaluates an engaging inquiry-based educational experiment. The experiment was incorporated in an introductory remote sensing undergraduate course to bridge the gap between theory and application of relevant technology. During this semester-long experiment, titled "ESF goes to space", students designed, built, launched and successfully acquired imagery from the upper stratospheric parts (approximately 27 000 m). Replication guidelines are presented and a post-evaluation discusses benefits and limitations for students, instructors and university. (Contains 7 figures and 2 tables.)