SPOT-7 can cover areas 10 times the size of France

With the launch of Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 by ISRO today, an area of 10 times the size of France would be covered, Airbus Defence and Space, that has designed and developed the satellites, said today.
The French Observation Satellite would join the orbit along with its twin SPOT 6, Very High Resolution Observation Satellites Pleiades 1A and 1B, Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group said in a statement.
The company would operate a constellation of four optical satellites that would open up opportunities for new applications, providing latest images within an unprecedented time frame, it said.

"Every point on the globe can be viewed both in high resolution by a SPOT satellite and in very high resolution by a Pleiades satellite. While SPOT6 AND SPOT 7 will cover wider areas with a resolution of 1.5 metres, Pleiades 1A and 1B will be focused on more targeted zones with a greater level of detail of about 50 cm", it said.
"With both satellites in orbit, acquisition capacity will be boosted to six million square kilometres per day -- an area ten times the size of France", it said.
With the operation of SPOT 6 and SPOT 7, the services of SPOT 5 which has been in operation since 2002 is scheduled to be decommissioned during first quarter of 2015, it said.

SPOT 6, launched last year by ISRO, and SPOT 7 are agile satellites that can be quickly aimed at a point on the earth upto 1,500 km of their respective position and are designed to remain in service for 10 years.

Some of the study for which the satellites would be used to include deforestation, environmental monitoring, maritime surveillance and oil industry, the statement said.
India today successfully launched five foreign satellites from four countries on board PSLV-C23 rocket which placed them in orbit, an achievement described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an 'endorsement' of the country's space capabilities.

PSLV-C23 placed all five satellites into their intended orbits, one after the other between 17 and 19 minutes after liftoff, in textbook precision.