Astrium chooses Arianespace to launch Chilean Earth observation satellite SSOT

Paris. - Astrium has chosen Arianespace to launch the SSOT (Sistema Satelital para la Observación de la Tierra) satellite from Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite was built for the Chilean government.

With a design based on the Myriade platform, this high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite will be built, integrated and tested by Astrium. The SSOT programme includes the development and joint construction of ground control and ground image processing segments, which will allow the Chilean authorities to control and operate their satellite from anywhere within the national territory.

Furthermore, as part of the co-operation agreement, Chilean engineers are working alongside Astrium’s development team in Toulouse, where they are also being trained.

The system will give Chile access to extremely high-quality satellite images that can be exploited in a wide range of observation applications such as mapping, agriculture, town planning, the administration of natural resources, the management of natural disasters and risks and urban plans.

The SSOT satellite will be launched from the Guiana Space Centre in early 2010 as part of the payload of a Soyuz launcher.

Once again, Astrium is demonstrating its ability to offer attractive partnership solutions in the sphere of Earth observation. The SSOT programme follows in the wake of the FORMOSAT-2 satellite, which was launched on 20 May 2004, the South Korean KOMPSAT-2 and COMS satellites, the THEOS programme developed for Thailand, which was launched on 1 October 2008, and the two ALSAT-2 satellites, which are currently being built for the Algerian government.



Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116, 000.