DEIMOS: New European Earth Observation Satellite

The system is based on a satellite with a multispectral optical instrument with a spatial resolution of 22 m and a wide swath of more than 600 km. The satellite records Earth images on board for a later downlink via the ground station under construction in the Technological Park of Boecillo (Valladolid, Spain).

 

DEIMOS Imaging is developing the new satellite system in collaboration with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) based in Guilford (UK), European leader in the construction of small satellites, with an impressive record of over 30 launched satellites. One of them is the first experimental satellite of Galileo, the new European navigation constellation. This satellite was successfully launched in December 2005, and has secured the frequency assigned to Europe for the operation of this Constellation.

 

The planned launch date for the new satellite is the first quarter of 2008. The operational lifetime of the satellite is five years. The new company DEIMOS Imaging will provide Earth imagery at different processing levels to the European and global Earth Observation value added companies. In addition, it has the capability to develop applications leading to commercial products and services for final institutional and private users. The main applications of the system are targeted to agriculture, forest, land use, environment, hydrology, monitoring natural resources and disaster monitoring such as fires or flooding.

 

The processing, archiving and distribution centre will be located at the R&D Building of the University of Valladolid. In this University, LATUV has been developing its Remote Sensing activities during the last 18 years.

 

The new satellite provides a unique imaging capacity and revisit time at this level of resolution. Due to its large swath, it allows a double full coverage of Spain and Portugal every week, and a full coverage of Europe every 10 days. The regions of special interest for the new system are: Spain (and especially the region of Castile and Leon) where the system is located; Portugal where the sister company DEIMOS Engenharia will commercialise the system, and the rest of Europe, where DEIMOS Imaging would like to contribute to the development of the GMES (Global, Monitoring, Environment and Security), a joint Programme of ESA and the European Union (EU).

 

DEIMOS satellite will be integrated into the international constellation DMC (Disaster Monitoring Constellation), which is composed of satellites from the UK, China, Nigeria, Algeria and Turkey. The combined use of the constellation satellites provides a unique capacity for Earth Observation, with more than one daily image of any place in the world.

 

The DMC is a unique international collaboration of member nations and, through this satellite, Spain joins the existing countries in the consortium (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and the UK). Each member of the consortium owns and operates a satellite whilst co-operating with the other members of the consortium. The model of co-operation has significant benefits ?± it allows information generated on-board one satellite to be used by other members of the consortium.

 

Dr. Miguel Bell?ı Mora, Managing Director

Tel: +34 918063450

(Source Deimos Space)