Status of the ACES mission

The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) is an European Space Agency project to be deployed externally to the Columbus Laboratory on the International Space Station. ACES, consisting of an cold-atom Cesium clock PHARAO and an active space hydrogen maser SHM, will provide frequency stability and accuracy at the 10^-16 level which can be disseminated to the ground via a dedicated Microwave Link. ACES is planned to be launched in 2013. Here we report on the current status of the ACES project, the most recent results in the ACES development and the status of preparation for the system test campaign with the ACES Engineering Model subsystems in summer 2009.