PSLV-C23 launch: SPOT-7 can cover areas 10 times the size of France

Zee Media Bureau

Chennai: French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, which has been successfully launched into orbit today, June 30, by the Indian rocket, PSLV-C23, along with four other co-passenger foreign satellites, can cover an area of 10 times the size of France. According to Airbus Defence and Space, the company that designed and developed the satellite, SPOT-7 satellite can cover an area of 10 times the size of France. Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group, said that SPOT-7 would join the orbit along with its twin SPOT 6, Very High Resolution Observation Satellites Pleiades 1A and 1B. The company would operate a constellation of four optical satellites that would open up opportunities for new applications, providing latest images within an unprecedented time frame, it said in a statement. “Every point on the globe can be viewed both in high resolution by a SPOT satellite and in very high resolution by a Pleiades satellite. While SPOT6 AND SPOT 7 will cover wider areas with a resolution of 1.5 metres, Pleiades 1A and 1B will be focused on more targeted zones with a greater level of detail of about 50 cm”, it said. “With both satellites in orbit, acquisition capacity will be boosted to six million square kilometres per day -- an area ten times the size of France”, it said. The space company also said that with the operation of SPOT 6 and SPOT 7, the services of SPOT 5 which has been in operation since 2002 is scheduled to be decommissioned during first quarter of 2015. Both SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 are agile satellites that can be quickly aimed at a point on the earth upto 1,500 km of their respective position and are designed to remain in service for 10 years. Some of the study for which the satellites would be used to include deforestation, environmental monitoring, maritime surveillance and oil industry, added the statement. SPOT 6 was successfully launched by India`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, on flight C21 on 9 September, 2012. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today successfully launched five foreign satellites from four countries on board PSLV-C23 rocket which placed them in orbit. Lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:52 local time (04:22 UTC), the event was witnessed by by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PSLV-C23 placed all five satellites into their intended orbits, one after the other between 17 and 19 minutes after liftoff, in textbook precision. (With Agency Inputs) Photo Credit: EADS Astrium