Helios 2 (satellite)

The Helios 2 system, which consists of the Helios 2A and Helios 2B, is a French-developed military Earth observation satellite program. Financed at 90% by France, the development also involved minor participation from Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece.^[1] Helios 2A was launched on December 18, 2004, by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Helios 2B was launched five years later on December 18, 2009, carried also by an Ariane 5. The two satellites are identical.^[2] They carry a Thales-built high-resolution visible and thermal infrared instrument with 35 cm resolution,^[3] and an Airbus-built medium-resolution instrument.^[4]

The Helios 2 will be replaced by the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO), a new French program of three military observation satellites. The first satellite (CSO-1) was launched on December 19, 2018, the second (CSO-2) on December 29, 2020, with the final launch (CSO-3) being scheduled for 2022.

References

^ [1] Archived October 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Cnes : Helios". Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2004-12-20.
^ [2] SpaceNews article on Helios II B
^ [3] CNES webpage on Helios II B

External links

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[1] [1] Archived October 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[2] "Cnes : Helios". Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2004-12-20.

[spacenewsHelios-3] [2] SpaceNews article on Helios II B

[CNES-4] [3] CNES webpage on Helios II B

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Helios 2 (satellite)

See also

References

External links

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