Elecnor Deimos, the technological branch of the Elecnor group, successfully launched DEIMOS-2, Spain’s first very-high resolution satellite, into orbit last June 19th.
DEIMOS-2, with a mass of 300 kg and over 2 meters long, is a very-high resolution multispectral satellite which produces pan-sharpened images with a resolution of 75 cm per pixel. Its advanced imaging camera acquires panchromatic and 4-band multispectral images over a 12-km swath (which can be increased to 24 km in its wide-area mode), with a sustained production capacity in excess of 150,000 km2/day. DEIMOS-2 is also capable of acquiring single-pass stereo pairs, which allows creating 3D models of the imaged area.
Artistic impression of the DEIMOS-2 satellite in orbit.
DEIMOS-2, developed by Elecnor Deimos in collaboration with Satrec-I (South Korea), is the highest-resolution fully private satellite in Europe, and one of the very few privately-owned submetric satellites in the world.
The satellite is expected to have an operational lifetime in excess of seven years, and will contribute to projects in various applications fields, from agriculture, environment and climate change monitoring, to monitoring of natural crisis and civil protection (fires and floods), as well as defence, intelligence and borders control.
After the by-the-book launch and early orbit phase, DEIMOS-2 has successfully completed its in-orbit commissioning, which included the orbit maneuvers campaign to reach its nominal operational orbit, and the in-flight calibration of the payload.
During this period, DEIMOS-2 has acquired more than 2,000 images to support its payload calibration and to test all operational acquisition modes across their envelope.
To demonstrate its capacity of mapping large regions in a short time, DEIMOS-2 has acquired the full Community of Madrid (more than 8,000 km2), cloud-free, within the month of August. The production of the resulting 75-cm pansharpened mosaic (14,300 megapixels) also served as a stress test for its process4EO processing chain, which has been fully developed by Elecnor Deimos as part of its gs4EO® (Ground segment for Earth Observation) suite of products.
Elecnor Deimos will declare DEIMOS-2 Initial Operational Capability in November 2014 and will enter into Full Operational Capability in January 2015, marking the start of full-fledged, 24/7 commercial service.
Mosaic of the Madrid region (8,030 km2), composed of DEIMOS-2 75-cm pansharpened images acquired in August 2014.
Detail of the Four Towers of Madrid, the highest buildings in Spain. Pansharpened DEIMOS-2 image acquired in August 2014.
Elecnor Deimos
Elecnor Deimos is Elecnor’s technological area that specialises in engineering solutions in the aerospace, information systems and telecommunications sectors. Its main business areas are remote sensing, aerospace and defence systems, air and maritime navigation, satellite systems.
www.elecnor-deimos.com
Elecnor
Elecnor develops projects involving infrastructure, renewable energies and new technologies. It has 12,500 employees and operates in over 40 countries.
www.elecnor.com