Paz (Spanish for "Peace") is a Spanish Earth observation and reconnaissance satellite launched on 22 February 2018. It is Spain's first spy satellite. The satellite is operated by Hisdesat. ''Paz'' was previously referred to as SEOSAR (Satélite Español de Observación SAR).

Overview

For observational purposes, ''Paz'' uses a

synthetic aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

(SAR) to collect images of Earth for governmental and commercial use, as well as other ship tracking and weather sensors, which enables high-resolution mapping of large geographical areas at day and night. The X-band radar imaging payload operates at a wavelength of , or a frequency of 9.65 gigahertz. The ''Paz'' satellite is operated in a constellation with the German SAR fleet TerraSAR-X and

TanDEM-X TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) is the name of TerraSAR-X's twin satellite, a German Earth observation satellite using SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) - a modern radar imaging technology. Implemented in a Public-P ...

on the same orbit. The collaboration was agreed on by both Hisdesat and former European aerospace manufacturer

Astrium Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 1 ...

, operator of the two other satellites. The high-resolution images will be used for military operations, border control, intelligence, environmental monitoring, protection of natural resources, city, and infrastructure planning, and monitoring of natural catastrophes. Originally, ''Paz'' was scheduled for launch from the Yasny launch base, Russia, in 2014, but this was delayed due to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, resulting in an

International Court of Arbitration ICC International Court of Arbitration is an institution for the resolution of international commercial disputes. It operates under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce and consists of more than 100 arbitrators from roughly 90 co ...

legal battle between Hisdesat and

Kosmotras The International Space Company Kosmotras or ISC Kosmotras (russian: ЗАО Международная космическая компания “Космотрас”) is a joint project, between Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, established in 1 ...

. The US launch was estimated to cost around , cost partially reduced by the inclusion of several mobile internet satellites on the same flight.

Launch

The satellite launched on a reused

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pay ...

rocket by SpaceX from

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg Sp ...

SLC-4E Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S. It has two pads, both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9, one for launch operations, and other as Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) for Spac ...

on 22 February 2018 at 14:17 UTC. The satellite hosted two secondary payloads: an

AIS AIS may refer to: Medicine * Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries * Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke * Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...

receiver and the Radio-Occultation and Heavy Precipitation (ROHP) experiment. The launch was shared by two SpaceX test satellites for their

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 45 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As ...

, named Tintin A and B. It was the final flight of a Block 3 first stage, and reused the booster B1038 from the Formosat-5 mission. ''Paz'' weighs , and its total mass with fuel is . The payloads were carried to a Sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit. The launch was originally scheduled for 30 January 2018. The booster flew without landing legs and was expended at sea. It also featured Fairing 2.0 with a recovery attempt using a

crew boat A crew boat, also called a crewboat, crew transfer vessel, fast support vessel, fast supply vessel or fast intervention supply vessel, is a vessel specialized in the transport of offshore support personnel, deck cargo, and below-deck cargo such a ...

named ''Mr. Steven'' that is equipped with a net. The fairing narrowly missed the boat, leading to a soft water landing.

Gallery

PAZ Mission (39718494114).jpg PAZ Mission (25557987937).jpg PAZ Mission (25557986627).jpg PAZ Mission (25557986367).jpg

References

{{Portal bar, Spaceflight Satellites of Spain 2018 in Spain Spacecraft launched in 2018 SpaceX military payloads Synthetic aperture radar satellites INTA satellites Imaging reconnaissance satellites Military equipment introduced in the 2010s Earth observation satellites Satellites in low Earth orbit