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 at 21:11 CET from the Yasny launch base in Russia.
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.
DEIMOS-2 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.
Just after launch the DEIMOS-2 satellite was repeatedly contacted by the three main stations of its Ground Segment Network: Puertollano (Spain), Kiruna (Sweden) and Inuvik (Canada). All subsystems on board have been activated and tested, and DEIMOS-2 has already passed successfully its first calibration and validation phase.
The satellite began capturing images just 12 hours after its launch, and has acquired more than 400 scenes in its first two weeks of operations. The first images acquired include the complex built for 2022 World cup in Qatar capital, Doha, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (US) and the Opera House in Sydney (Australia).
These first published images, even if still lacking in-orbit calibration, show a high level of details and the very good quality that shall be expected from DEIMOS-2 products. More images will be published in the coming weeks, during the commissioning phase, as they become available.
After the successful launch and a by-the-book early orbit phase, DEIMOS-2 is now undergoing its in-orbit commissioning, which will include the orbit maneuvers campaign to reach its nominal operational orbit, and the in-flight absolute calibration of the payload. Elecnor Deimos expects to start full commercial operations in the next few months.
DEIMOS-2, developed by Elecnor Deimos in collaboration with Satrec-I (South Korea), has been integrated in the Puertollano Satellite Integration and Operations Centre (Ciudad Real, Spain), a complex built specifically by Elecnor Deimos for integrating and managing its own and third-party satellites. Equipped with the latest technology, it has engineering areas, a 400+ m2 clean room for satellite integration and testing, a dual S/X-band antenna with a diameter of 10.2 m to communicate with the satellites, and a complete Mission Control Centre.
This project completes Elecnor Deimos’ presence in the entire value chain of space missions. Elecnor Deimos has the demonstrated capability to manage end-to-end space programs: design, integrate, validate, launch and operate Earth observation satellites, distribute their data and develop derived services and applications, and develop full end-to-end missions for customers worldwide.
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