Encyclopedia entry

SPOT

Program · France

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

Système Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre - French series of European remote sensing satellites.

Chronology

5 events

01:44 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA1. LV Family: Ariane. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 1.

SPOT 1 - . Payload: Spot 1 / Viking. Mass: 1,830 kg (4,030 lb). Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Program: SPOT. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft: SPOT-1-2-3. USAF Sat Cat: 16613 . COSPAR: 1986-019A. Apogee: 826 km (513 mi). Perigee: 824 km (512 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 101.40 min. Remote sensing satellite. Registration 1986-1.B.

01:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA2. LV Family: Ariane. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 40.

SPOT 2 - . Mass: 1,870 kg (4,120 lb). Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Program: SPOT. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft: SPOT-1-2-3. USAF Sat Cat: 20436 . COSPAR: 1990-005A. Apogee: 826 km (513 mi). Perigee: 825 km (512 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 101.40 min. Remote sensing. Earth observation satellite. Registration 1990-1-B..

01:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA2. LV Family: Ariane. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 40.

SPOT 3 - . Payload: Spot 3. Mass: 1,907 kg (4,204 lb). Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Program: SPOT. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft: SPOT-1-2-3. USAF Sat Cat: 22823 . COSPAR: 1993-061A. Apogee: 823 km (511 mi). Perigee: 821 km (510 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 101.30 min. Remote sensing..

01:46 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA2. LV Family: Ariane. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 40.

SPOT 4 - . Mass: 2,755 kg (6,073 lb). Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Manufacturer: Toulouse. Program: SPOT. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft: SPOT-4. USAF Sat Cat: 25260 . COSPAR: 1998-017A. Apogee: 826 km (513 mi). Perigee: 824 km (512 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 101.40 min.
Developed by Matra Marconi Space/Toulouse for CNES, the satellite provided 10-m resolution images with a wide field of view. SPOT 4 also carried a wide field 'vegetation' imager and a laser communications experiment. Launch was by an Arianespace Ariane 40 rocket, the base Ariane 4 model with no strap-on boosters. The liquid hydrogen fuelled third stage of the Ariane 40 entered an 800 km sun-synchronous orbit together with SPOT 4.

01:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA2. LV Family: Ariane. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 42P.

SPOT 5 - . Mass: 3,000 kg (6,600 lb). Nation: France. Agency: CNES. Manufacturer: Friedrichshafen. Program: SPOT. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft: SPOT-5A-5B. USAF Sat Cat: 27421 . COSPAR: 2002-021A. Apogee: 826 km (513 mi). Perigee: 825 km (512 mi). Inclination: 98.80 deg. Period: 101.40 min.
Remote Sensing satellite. Last launch of Ariane 42P version. Launch delayed from April 10. The Ariane 42P, with two PAP solid boosters, flew north from Kourou. The third stage burn occurred off the east coast of North America, with engine cutoff at 0150 UTC and stage separation at 0151 UTC. Venting of the remaining third stage propellant was seen by observers in the US. SPOT Image's SPOT 5 was built by Astrium/Toulouse. The main instrument was the HRVIR imaging camera payload including a 2.5-meter resolution imager. A secondary experiment was the 5-band VEGETATION-2 instrument with 1-km resolution.