SPACEBEL Gets Vietnam Earth Observation Satellite Deals

It is on March 13th 2012, in the frame of a princely trade mission, that SPACEBEL will sign the contractual pre-agreements with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) for the supply of an Earth observation mini-satellite to be launched in 2017.

After several years of negotiations, the SPACEBEL consortium was selected in July 2011 on the basis of their technical proposal and thanks to the continuous support of the Belgian Government, both at Federal and regional levels.

With this 100% Belgian satellite named VNREDSat-1b (Vietnam Natural Resources, Environment & Disaster Monitoring satellite) Vietnam will be able to monitor independently its territory and environment. Weighing 130 kg, the small spacecraft will play an important role, amongst others, in the field of natural resources management (agriculture, forests), will ensure a better follow-up of climate changes, detect pollution in the seas, help to minimize the impact of natural disasters, etc.

To realize this project representing a total value of over 60 million €, SPACEBEL relies upon the expertise of a panel of Belgian partners: QinetiQ Space, AMOS, Deltatec, the Space Centre of Liège, and VITO, who will be responsible respectively for the satellite platform, hyperspectral instrument, integration and testing, and data processing.

Prime contractor and architect of the system, SPACEBEL will also develop the on-board software as well as the entire ground segment.

A training programme on satellite technology and remote sensing space applications to be set up in co-operation with the University of Liège completes the SPACEBEL offer.

This first successful commercial sale confirms the skills of SPACEBEL in the field of small satellites. At the same time, it is the consecration of the know-how of the Belgian space sector.

SOURCE: SPACEBEL