Final 2 Pléiades Neo Satellites Arrive in Kourou for Launch
The last batch of the Airbus-built, owned and operated Pléiades Neo satellites has arrived at the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, following a transatlantic flight from Toulouse, France, where most of the manufacturing steps occurred over the last years.
“With this upcoming launch, we will double our capacity and be able to respond to our customers’ needs even faster, providing the best quality in the market for a wide range of military and commercial applications.”
François Lombard, Head of Intelligence at Airbus Defence and Space.
Scheduled to be launched at the end of November on the first commercial mission of the Vega C European rocket operated by Arianespace, the Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 satellites will complete the Airbus 30cm (≈one foot) resolution four-satellite constellation.
“We are just one step away from completing this pioneering constellation, which already covers one million square kilometers per day and delivers images at 30 centimeter native resolution,” said François Lombard, Head of Intelligence at Airbus Defense and Space. “With this upcoming launch, we will double our capacity and be able to respond to our customers’ needs even faster, providing the best quality in the market for a wide range of military and commercial applications.”
The Pléiades Neo 3 and 4 satellites were launched in April and August 2021, respectively, and since then they have been collecting imagery easily accessible from Airbus’ OneAtlas digital platform, where customers can task new imagery and have access to archived images and extensive analytics.
Pléiades Neo Satellites Stacked for Easier Deployment
Both satellites are due to be launched simultaneously on the Vega C European launcher from Kourou, in French Guiana. To tackle this dual launch, the Airbus space engineers came up with a smart and efficient dispenser-free design, where the satellites are stacked on top of each other, linked only by a clamp band.
This compact dispenser-free launch configuration saves volume and mass, as well as reducing cost. Simultaneously testing both satellites in their stacked launch configuration enabled significant time saving, with only four days needed to pass both the three axes Sine testing and the acoustic test.
”With this new bold, dispenser-free design, we were able to seamlessly integrate and test these two very high resolution satellites and ensure an optimized launch configuration: in a single launch, we will double the acquisition capacity of the Pléiades Neo constellation, and offer even greater responsiveness to our customers,” said Philippe Pham, Head of Earth Observation and Science at Airbus.
(Source: Airbus news releases. Images provided by Airbus)