Essaim (''swarm'', in French) was a French military reconnaissance
microsatellite
A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
. Its main purpose was to collect and map
signals intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
around the world. The
Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) described it as a "vacuum cleaner for
adio Adio may refer to:
Business
*Adio (company), the former skateboard footwear and apparel company
Music Songs
* "Adio" (song), a song by Montenegrin recording artist Knez that represented Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
*"Adio", a 19 ...
waves".
Description
Essaim was a constellation of four 120 kg microsatellites (one of which was a spare) in
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
(LEO). They were demonstration models which were supposed to last three years. They flew separated by a few hundreds of kilometers. Missions were designed by the ''Celar'' (Centre d'électronique de l'armement) in
Bruz
Bruz ( or ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Geography
Bruz is located near the center of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, 14 km from Rennes. It is near the confluence of the rivers Vil ...
, near
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
and were uploaded from
CNES in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
to the constellation. Collected data followed the same path in reverse order.
Launch
The constellation was launched from
Kourou, in
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
, 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 ...
G+
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...
on 18 December 2004. The flight was shared with
Helios 2A
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 Gre ...
and two other auxiliary payloads:
Parasol and
Nanosat
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
.
Individual members of the constellation were Essaim 1 (
COSPAR ID
The International Designator, also known as COSPAR ID, is an international identifier assigned to artificial objects in space. It consists of the launch year, a three-digit incrementing launch number of that year and up to a three-letter code repr ...
: 2004-049C), Essaim 2 (COSPAR ID: 2004-049D), Essaim 3 (COSPAR ID: 2004-049E) and Essaim 4 (COSPAR ID: 2004-049F).
Decommissioning
ESSAIM disposal and passivation operations took place in October 2010. The satellites are expected to reenter within 15 to 19 years (2025-2029).
See also
*
ELISA (satellite)
References
External links
Microsatellites Essaim: aspirateur d'ondesESSAIM cluster disposal: orbit management
Reconnaissance satellites of France
Signals intelligence satellites
Spacecraft launched in 2004
Spacecraft launched by Ariane rockets
Derelict satellites orbiting Earth
Satellite constellations
Satellites in low Earth orbit
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s
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