CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A new Earth imaging satellite for the French Space Agency (CNES) is circling the planet's poles following its launch Friday night from the edge of the Amazon jungle in South America.
Spot-5 -- the 200th satellite to ride an Ariane rocket -- successfully reached its correct path in space after a 19-minute, 15-second ride atop a three-stage Ariane 42P rocket equipped with a pair of small solid rocket boosters.
Liftoff from the Guiana Space Center of the 70th consecutive successful Ariane 4 shot came right on time at 9:31:46 p.m. EDT (0031.46 Saturday GMT).
"This is a further success for Europe in space," said Jean-Marie Luton, chairman and chief executive officer of Arianespace, the European commercial launch firm. "We at Arianespace are very happy to have contributed to the launch of this descendant of the Spot family."
Spot-5 is the latest in France's series of Earth observing satellites, all of which were sent into orbit by Arianespace. Spot-1 flew in February 1986, Spot-2 followed in January 1990, Spot-3 was launched in September 1993, and Spot-4 was added to the constellation in March 1998.
Developed by France, Belgium and Sweden, the Spot system has captured more than six million images of Earth since the program went operational in 1986.Spot imagery is made available to government and private users all over the world. Practical applications include three-dimensional maps of the planet's surface, surveys of vegetation around urban areas and general monitoring of the effects of pollution on the environment.
This newest spacecraft-- primarily built by Astrium, with some instruments from Alcatel Space -- will add to the capabilities of the constellation by being able to image larger areas in single passes with higher resolution than previous Spot satellites. It is to go into service in June.
By launching into a polar orbit, the spacecraft will be able to view the entire surface of the planet every few days.
"Theres nothing comparable in the world. Spot-5 is unique because this mission has been conceived to reply fully to the end users' requirements," said Michel Bouffard, Director of Earth Observation and Science Programs at Astrium in Toulouse, France.
Also flying onboard the 151st Ariane mission were two so-called auxiliary payloads provided by France's amateur radio satellite association.
The cargo is attached to a structure on the rocket's third stage, which will remain in orbit for some time.
About 10 days after launch the hardware will be turned on and recorded voice messages and digital telemetry information will be beamed to Earth. For the next 40 days or so anyone with the right equipment will be able to hear the signals -- including many students who will be tuning in as part of several education programs tied to the experiment.
Meanwhile, Friday's launch altered the scorecard: Arianespace has launched six missions in less than 100 days and still has 36 satellites and nine missions to the International Space Station left to fly. The flight was the 112th for the Ariane 4 family of boosters and the 15th to use the Ariane 42P configuration.
Arianespace's next launch is targeted for early June when the company is to launch Intelsat 905 atop another Ariane 4.
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