The Helios 2 system, which consists of the Helios 2A and Helios 2B, is a French-developed military
Earth observation satellite
An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...
program. Financed at 90% by
France, the development also involved minor participation from
Belgium,
Spain,
Italy and
Greece. Helios 2A was launched on December 18, 2004, by an
Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads int ...
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. They carry a
Thales-built high-resolution visible and thermal infrared instrument with 35 cm resolution,
and an
Airbus-built medium-resolution instrument.
The Helios 2 satellite bus is nearly identical to the platform built by EADS Astrium for the Spot 5 civil-commercial optical observation satellite.
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.
See also
*
Hélios 1, the previous generation
*
CSO, the follow-on system
References
https://helios.cnes.fr/en/helios-0
External links
Reconnaissance satellites of France
Satellites of Spain
Satellites of Italy
Spacecraft launched in 2004
Spacecraft launched in 2009
Spacecraft launched by Ariane rockets
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s
{{France-spacecraft-stub