Page 26 - hisdeSAT annual report 2015

HISDE S AT ANNU AL REPOR T 2 015

to develop new capabilities
which will improve their
competitiveness in the in-
ternational aerospace mar-
ket. This new satellite will
also substantially improve
the positioning of our cou-
EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEM ntry within the European
Copernicus programme
(previously known as GMES)
In 2007, the Spanish National Earth Observation
Satellite Programme (Programa Nacional de Ob- for Global Monitoring of
servación de la Tierra por satellite - PNOTS) was Environment and Security,
launched in the form of a partnership between which is the principal ini-
the Ministries of Defence and those of Industry, tiative in the field of Earth
Tourism and Trade. observation led by the Eu-
ropean Union and the Euro-
PNOTS comprises two satellites, PAZ and INGE- pean Space Agency (ESA).
NIO, currently under development, using both
radar (SAR) and optic observation technologies. The PAZ satellite will cover
It can capture images both night and day, and the needs of various users.
independently of weather conditions. With this It is able to take more than
programme, Spain has become the first Euro- 100 images daily of up to one
pean country to possess a dual use system with metre in resolution, both day
dual observation technologies. and night and regardless of
weather conditions. It has
Hisdesat is both the owner and operator of the been designed to cover more
PAZ satellite, which will provide accurate infor- than 300,000 square kilome-
mation for multiple applications from its polar tres daily and is configured to
orbit around Earth. Through a deal signed with orbit the Earth fifteen times a
the Russian company KOSMOTRAS, the satellite day at a height of 514 kilome-
will be launched with the Russian DNPER rocket. tres and a velocity of seven
kilometres per second. Given
Since its inception, the design and construction its slightly inclined quasi-po-
of the PAZ satellite has been generating signifi- lar orbit, PAZ will cover the
cant returns within the Spanish aerospace indus- entire globe with an average
try for the 18 companies involved, allowing them
revisit time of 24 hours.

The satellite has a mass of
around 1,400kg and is 5
metres high with a diameter
of 2.4 metres. The radar has

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