OptSat 3000 & VENµS (VENUS)

Mission

OptSat 3000 & VENµS (VENUS)

• Type: Earth Science
• Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
• Launch Cost: $37,000,000

OptSat 3000 is an Earth imaging satellite built by Israel Aerospace Industries for the Italian military. It will be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 600km. It will have a mission life of more than six years. Launched along with it is VENµS, Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro-Satellite. This is a near polar sun-synchronous orbit microsatellite jointly built by the Israeli Space Agency and CNES. Besides the scientific mission of terrestrial environment monitoring, the satellite is also tasked with verification and validation of the Hall Effect thruster in space.

Location

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) has witnessed the launch of 49 rockets, including 49 orbital launch attempts, while Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, has been the site for 320 rocket launches.

Rocket

Avio S.p.A Vega

Vega is the smallest lifter in the current Arianespace family.

Agency

Arianespace

Arianespace SA is a multinational company founded in 1980 as the world’s first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme. Their vehicles launch exclusively from French Guiana in South America.