June 30, 2015
The European Space Agency’s successful launch of Sentinel-2A on June 23, 2015, has been followed by a successful first phase of commissioning. The 1.1-ton satellite carries a high-resolution optical payload that will capture color images as part of Europe’s Copernicus environmental-monitoring program.
April 7, 2015
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a new optical spy satellite aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket. The satellite is a replacement for one of two optical satellites that have been in orbit since 2009.
January 2, 2015
China launched the Yaogan-26 remote sensing satellite into the preset orbit at 11:22 a.m. on Saturday Beijing Time from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The satellite will mainly be used for scientific experiments, land surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention. It was carried by a Long March-4B rocket, marking
January 2, 2015
An advanced Resurs-P Earth remote sensing satellite lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket. "The launch of Soyuz-2.1b was carried out as planned - at 21.55 Moscow time . The separation of the satellite is expected at 22.05 Moscow time ," the official said. The Resurs-P
December 31, 2014
Scheduled for launch on Jan. 29, 2015, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrument will measure the moisture lodged in Earth's soils with an unprecedented accuracy and resolution. The instrument's three main parts are a radar, a radiometer and the largest rotating mesh antenna ever deployed in space. Remote sensing instruments are called “active” when
November 11, 2014
A Dnepr rocket carried five Japanese Earth observing satellites into orbit Nov. 6, 2014, from the Dombrovsky military base in southern Russia.