Vietnam's first remote sensing satellite VNREDSat-1 successfully launched

Vietnam's earth observation optical satellite system VNREDSat-1 ( remote sensing satellite ) was launched into space on May 7th after the three-day delay. The first photo shoot will be transmitted to Vietnam on May 10th. VnEpress reported.

VEGA Rocket is launching.

The earth observation satellite was launched by a Vega lightweight rocket at 9:06 am.

The satellite, which has a life span of five years, was designed and manufactured by the French company EADS Astrium in Toulouse and it has been certified to be launched into space.

It is expected that 1 hour, 57 minutes and 24 seconds after taking off, the satellite will activate its propulsion engine to make its way to sun synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of nearly 670 km.

The VNRED Sat-1 was launched with two other space vehicles, including a 140kg Proba-V satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) to map vegetation cover, and a 1.3kg Estonian microsatellite, ESTCube-1, to test an electric solar sail.

During its operation, VNRED Sat-1 will provide high-resolution satellite images that will serve social and economic development purposes, natural resources management, environmental protection, and natural disaster detection and control.

The satellite, which measures 600 mm x 570 mm x 500 mm and weighs 115 kg, was built at a total cost of €55.8 million from the French Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) fund and VND65 billion (around $3.2 million) from the Vietnamese Government.

It is expected that the satellite will provide 100 images a day on average.

This is very important for Vietnam, since the country currrently has to buy satellite images from foreign countries at high prices and has to wait for 1-2 months to receive such images.

In 2008 and 2012, Vietnam launched two telecommunication satellites, Vinasat 1 and Vinasat 2, both of which are operating on a geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 35,800 km.

Astrium is set to deliver Vietnam’s first Earth observation satellite

Astrium, the European leader in space technologies, is the prime contractor for the VNREDSat-1, the first Vietnamese Earth observation satellite, scheduled for launch on a Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou on 03 May.

The Vietnamese satellite VNREDSat-1, built by Astrium, is scheduled for launch from Kourou on 03 May. Astrium also built the satellite ground control segment and the image receiving and processing stations in Vietnam.(photos : hanoimoi) (Photo: http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/programme/vnredsat-1.html)

Astrium received the order for the VNREDSat-1 programme from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in July 2010, under an agreement signed in 2009 between the French and Vietnamese Governments. Under this contract, Astrium is responsible for the development, construction and launch of the VNREDSat-1 optical satellite, capable of taking images of the Earth with a resolution of 2.5 metres. In Vietnam, Astrium was also prime contractor for the design and construction of the satellite ground control segment and the satellite image receiving and processing stations. The company was also responsible for training the 15 Vietnamese engineers who will operate the satellite.

“VNREDSat-1 is another of Astrium Satellites’ export successes,” said Eric Béranger, CEO of Astrium Satellites. “This new satellite is further proof that our teams are among the best in the world; aside from their technological expertise and exemplary cost management, they also provide excellent customer support spanning from system design to in-situ operator training. We intend to continue in this vein, further boosting our competitiveness and consolidating our position as the world’s leading exporter of Earth observation satellites.”

Astrium

Earth observation optical satellite system VNREDSat-1 for Vietnam

The first remote sensing satellite of Vietnam named VNREDSat-1 is expected to be launched into orbit by the end of April, 2013. This event is significant, Vietnam will take the initiative to provide high-resolution satellite images for monitoring natural resources, climate change. ..

VNREDSat-1 (Photo: http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/programme/vnredsat-1.html)

The satellite can photograph the locations on the earth to serve for multi-purposes such as proactive monitoring of changes of natural disasters, climate change (especially the occurrence of incidents such as floods,forest fires, oil spills, etc.)

Addition, VNREDSat-1 provides high-resolution satellite images for the survey and inventory of forest resources, agricultural land of all types; revising topographic maps, building the map tectonic structure service of geological to survey for mineral exploration; tracking the movement of fish serving offshore fishing...

The VNREDSat-1 programme, awarded to Astrium in 2010, is the result of an initiative by the Vietnamese government to create a space infrastructure enabling the country to better monitor and study the effects of climate change, predict and take measures to prevent natural disasters, and optimise the management of its natural resources. The contract between Astrium and VAST covers the development, manufacture and launch of an Earth observation optical satellite system.

The VNREDSat-1 system comprises an optical satellite capable of capturing images with a resolution of 2.5 metres, the associated ground control, image receiving and processing stations, and a co-operation and training programme for Vietnamese engineers.

The satellite will be built in Toulouse. During the project 15 Vietnamese engineers will be integrated and trained by the Astrium team. The VNREDSat-1 system is based on the Astrium operational AstroSat100 satellite, used for the SSOT programme developed with Chile or the ALSAT-2 satellite system developed with Algeria.

The 130kg satellite will image at 2.5m in panchromatic mode and 10 m in multi-spectral mode (four bands) with a 17.5km swath, and will orbit at 600–700km in a sun synchronous orbit.

Vietnam Plus/ Astrium