Mapping parts of Australia has become a new mission of Santa’s sleigh this week. As test flights have repositioned over Sector 1 this special mission has become a priority.

“Mapping is an ongoing project that gets worked on daily all over the world.” explained North Pole Flight Director Elf Buck Sanchez. “The world is constantly changing. New roads and development happen. People move. Landmarks change. Santa has to keep up with everything so we use a variety of means to map every part of the earth. Santa needs the latest of this information.”

While the use of Santa’s sleigh is not normally part of the mapping efforts at the North Pole it is especially useful for not only helping the mapping effort but also for low altitude flights of Santa’s sleigh. Mapping requires low and slow work by the sleigh and given the weather in Australia right now this is the perfect mission for them.

“These flight are during daylight hours,” explained Elf Supervisor Randi Hume. “That means anyone can see these flight and it is likely a lot of people will see the sleigh. It’s a great opportunity for tracker elves and Santa fans alike. Santa, of course, will not be piloting these flights but how often do you get to see Santa’s sleigh in broad daylight?”

We suspect these flights over Australia will last for three or four days.