PerúSAT-1 satellite is now on its way to Kourou launch site

PerúSAT-1 satellite, designed and built by Airbus Defence and Space for the Peruvian Space Agency (CONIDA), has been safely loaded on board the airplane and is now on its way to the European Space Port in Kourou (French Guiana). In the upcoming weeks the engineers are going to prepare the satellite for its lift-off on a Vega launcher scheduled for 16 September 2016 (03:45 CEST).

PerúSAT-1, Peru’s first Earth observation satellite, is based on the highly flexible, compact AstroBus-S platform and will observe Earth through a silicon carbide optical instrument of latest generation, with a 70 cm resolution. Built in less than two years, the 400 kg satellite will deliver images from its orbit at 694 km to be used in the areas of land management, border control, and drug trafficking. It may also be used to support management of humanitarian aid and evaluation of natural disasters (floods, forest fires, landslides, erosion).

The programme also includes the construction of the Centro Nacional de Operaciones de Imágenes Satelitales del Perú (CNOIS) hosting the ground control segment for image reception and processing developed by Airbus Defence and Space, as well as a complete technology transfer programme for the Peruvian engineers and technicians (from advanced instruction in space technologies to satellite operation and the development of appropriate imaging applications) and the supply of images from the Airbus Defence and Space fleet of optical and radar satellites.

www.airbusdefenceandspace.com