EROS (satellite)

EROS (satellite)

EROS ("Earth Resources Observation Satellite") is a series of Israeli commercial Earth observation satellites, designed and manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), with optical payload supplied by El-Op. The satellites are owned and operated by ImageSat International, another Israeli company, with some 35 full-time employees (of IntelSat's total of 50). EROS A was launched, on December 5, 2000 and EROS B on April 25 2006.

EROS A

EROS A was launched on the Russian Start-1 launcher on December 5, 2000, from the Svobodny Launch Complex in eastern Siberia, to a Low Earth orbit (LEO) altitude of 480 km. The satellite provides commercial images with an optical resolution of 1.8 meters. The satellite orbits earth in a sun synchronous orbit, so that its imaged target is always in daylight. It always crosses the equator at 9:45am local time.

Its dimensions: height: 2.3 m, diameter: 1.2 m, head: 0.7 m. It weighed 250kg at launch. It was built based on the military reconnaissance satellite Ofeq 3, which was previously built, also by IAI and El-Op, for Israeli government use.

EROS B

ImageSat initially planned to launch a similar satellite every 6 months after EROS A.

EROS B was finally launched on April 25, 2006 aboard a Russian Start-1 rocket from the Svobodny Launch Complex in eastern Siberia. The satellite offers an optical resolution of 70 cm (about two feet), and as of launch date plans were to use it to monitor Iran's developing nuclear program for potential threats to Israeli security.

Future plans

EROS C is planned for launch in 2009, and its optical resolution has still not been decided.

ImageSat announced plans to launch a total of three more satellites in later dates, in order to provide full coverage of the entire planet surface with six functional satellites.

See also

External links

* [http://www.imagesatintl.com/ ImageSat International website]
* [http://www.most.gov.il/index.php/en/israel_space_agency/about_isa_israel_space_agency Israel Space Agency website]
* [http://hayadan.org.il/english/2006/04/28/eros-b-first-pictures/ First pictures from Eros B, The neat Hayadan site (Note: Image of Tabaqah Dam is horizontally flipped.)]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • EROS — may refer to: * EROS Center, the Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, the United States national archive of remotely sensed images of the Earth s land surface * EROS (satellite), Earth Resources Observation Satellite, a series of… …   Wikipedia

  • EROS-А1 (КА) — Спутник EROS A1 (Earth Remote Observation Satellite Спутник дистанционного зондирования поверхности Земли) компании ImageSat International был успешно запущен российской ракетой Старт 1. Запуск был произведён с дальневосточного космодрома… …   Википедия

  • EROS-B (КА) — Спутник EROS B (КА) (Earth Remote Observation Satellite  Спутник дистанционного зондирования поверхности Земли) запущен российской ракетой Старт 1. Запуск был произведён с дальневосточного космодрома Свободный 25 апреля 2006 года. Вес… …   Википедия

  • EROS-B — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. EROS. EROS B Earth Remote Observation Satellite Производитель …   Википедия

  • EROS-А1 — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. EROS. EROS A1 Earth Remote Observation Satellite EROS A Производитель …   Википедия

  • Eros-B —    A spy satellite launched on 25 April 2006 reportedly for the purpose of monitoring conventional and nonconventional strategic threats posed by Israel s distant enemies, including Iran. It was reported that the satellite s main purpose was to… …   Historical Dictionary of Israel

  • Satellite — This article is about artificial satellites. For natural satellites, also known as moons, see Natural satellite. For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). An animation depicting the orbits of GPS satellites in medium Earth orbit …   Wikipedia

  • satellite — satellited, adj. /sat l uyt /, n. 1. Astron. a natural body that revolves around a planet; a moon. 2. a country under the domination or influence of another. 3. something, as a branch office or an off campus facility of a university, that depends …   Universalium

  • Satellite revisit — The satellite revisit time is the time elapsed between observations of the same point on earth by a satellite.It depends on the satellite s orbit, target location, and swath of the sensor. Revisit is related to the same ground trace; a projection …   Wikipedia

  • EROS — Earth Resources Observation System (Governmental » Military) * Encouraging Respect Of Sexualities (Community) * Education And Resources On Sexuality (Community » Educational) * Earth Resources Observing Satellite (Academic & Science » Ocean… …   Abbreviations dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”