Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Orfeo

IOC: 2009
Total Production: 6

Pleiades

IOC: 2008
Production: 2
Unitary Cost: USD$200 million

Origin
France

Contractor/s
EADS

Description: The Orfeo is a dual-use (civilian and military) earth observation satellite network developed jointly between France and Italy. The system consists of 2 satellites equipped with advanced electro-optical payloads, known as Pleiades, being developed by France, and 4 satellites equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) , known as Cosmo-Skymed, being developed by Italy.

The sun-synchronous Pleiades satellite being developed by France will be equipped with state-of-the-art optical sensors to furnish high resolution imagery. The sensor would allow access to an area with an estimated span of 890 km.

The Pleiades satellites will replace the Spot 5 3D imaging satellite ensuring coverage of the same wide-swath while providing panchromatic and multispectral imagery. The maximum resolution will be 70cm across a 20 km swath. The data storage for Pleiades has been increased to 600 gigabits and the downlink data rate now reaches 450 megabits per second.

In October 2003, EADS Astrium was awarded a €314 million ($393 million) contract for the procurement of two Pleiades satellites to be launched in 2008 and 2009. Alcatel Space will supply the high resolution optical sensors and image telemetry.

Specifications
Weights: Max Weight 1,000 kg (2,205 lb)

Performance: Orbit 619 km (334 nm), Service Life 5 yr

Operators

see operators map | see family operators map

France

Italy

Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) kN (KiloNewton) Ton (t)
Meters per Second (mps) Kilometers per Hour (kph) Knot (kt) Miles per Hour (mph)
Liter (l) Galon (gl)
Year (yr) Minutes (min) Second (sec)
Shaft-Horse-Power (shp)

Last Updated: Friday, October 10, 2008

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