UTC--> , launch_rocket =

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

, launch_site =

Kourou Kourou (; ) is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It ...

, launch_contractor =

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

, entered_service = , orbit_reference =

Geocentric In astronomy, the geocentric model (also known as geocentrism, often exemplified specifically by the Ptolemaic system) is a superseded description of the Universe with Earth at the center. Under most geocentric models, the Sun, Moon, stars, an ...

, orbit_regime =

Sun-synchronous A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

2 day Earth repeating , orbit_periapsis = 720 km (first phase) / 410 km (second phase) , orbit_apoapsis = 720 km (first phase) / 410 km (second phase) , orbit_inclination = 98.27 degrees , orbit_period = , apsis = gee , instruments = Super Spectral Camera (VSSC), Israeli Hall Effect Thruster (IHET) , telescope_name = Ritchey-Chretien telescope , telescope_type = Cassegrain reflector , telescope_diameter = 0.25m , telescope_focal_length= 1.75m , telescope_area = 50 special interest sites , telescope_wavelength = , instrument_type = Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro-Satellite (VENμS) is a near polar

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, 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 organ ...

. It is a joint project of the

Israeli Space Agency The Israel Space Agency (ISA; , ''Sokhnut heKhalal haYisraelit'') is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology (Israel), Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs w ...

and

CNES CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

. The project was signed upon in April 2005 and was launched on the 2nd of August 2017. The microsatellite, which was set to cost the ISA US$20 million and

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

10 million, was designed and built by IAI and Rafael under ISA's supervision. For the mission, CNES is responsible for supplying the superspectral camera and the science mission center. The ISA is responsible for the satellite control center, the technological mission and payload (Israeli Hall effect Thruster and autonomous mission), the

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...

, and the launcher interface.

History

A joint study to check feasibility of the program was done in the first half of 2005. Phase A started in 2005 and upon completion, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the ISA and

. The satellite was originally planned to be launched in 2008; however due to changes of the launchers and several delays, the launch date was pushed to 2 August 2017. It was launched via a

launcher from

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

together with Italian satellite

OPTSAT-3000 OPTSAT-3000 (OPTical SATellite-3000) is an Italian Earth observation and reconnaissance satellite developed and built by Israel Aerospace Industries and operated by the Italian Ministry of Defence. Launched on August 2, 2017, it has an expected se ...

Mission

The satellite has a scientific and a technological mission. Scientific mission requirements were defined by Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and

. Technological Mission requirement were defined by Rafael.

Scientific mission

The satellite has a 2-day revisit orbit which allows constant viewing angles at constant Sun lighting angles. The unique combination is hoped to allow the development of new image processing methods. A set of at least 50 points of interest around the world were chosen to be scanned throughout the scientific mission. The points will be rescanned every 2 days for the entire duration of the mission where it will collect sensory and imagery data. Some of the objectives from the scientific mission are: * Monitoring and analyzing surface under various environmental and human factors * Develop and validate various ecosystem functioning models * Improve and validate global

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...

models * Define theoretical and practical methods for scale transfer * Collect and analyze data collected by the low spatial resolution sensors The satellite is equipped with a Super Spectral Camera comprises a

catadioptric optical system A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors (catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, ...

, a focal plane assembly with narrow band filters, and 4 detector units with 3 separate

CCD CCD may refer to: Science and technology * Charge-coupled device, an electronic light sensor used in various devices including digital cameras * .ccd, the filename extension for CloneCD's CD image file * Carbonate compensation depth, a property ...

- TDI array. Each array with separate operational and thermal control. The satellite is also equipped with a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with a focal length of 1.75m and a diameter of 0.25m. The telescope's tube will be covered to protect it from pollution and dust which will deploy once in orbit.

Technological mission

In addition to its scientific mission, the satellite has a technological mission. The satellite is equipped with Israeli

hall effect thruster In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thrust ...

s (IHET). The mission is to demonstrate the thrusters' enhanced capabilities and autonomous mission operations which include: * Orbit maintenance *

LEO Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to: * Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky * Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac * Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually mas ...

to LEO orbit transfer * Enabling imaging mission in a high drag environment - performing the scientific mission at an altitude of 410 km on an Earth repeating sun synchronous orbit The technological mission is designed to use 16 kg of Xenon.

Platform

The satellite platform is based on the

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI; ), is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 14,000 employees as of 2021. IAI is state-owned by the government ...

OPSAT 3000 satellite platform. Venus satellite will have dual propulsion system: Hydrazine for orbit insertion and Xenon for the technological mission. Venus satellite mass is 265 kg (wet), of which 16 kg are Xenon and 7 kg are hydrazine.

Ground control station

The satellite is ground controlled by IAI in

; the Israel mission control is linked to two sub-stations in charge of each of the missions: The scientific mission is operated from Toulouse Space Center,

and the technology mission is controlled from the Technological Mission Center, Rafael,

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

References

External links

CNES VENμS Mission Page
* 15pxbr>Building the VENUS satellite

Ministry of Science, Technology and Space The Ministry of Science and Technology is a government ministry in Israel, headed by the Science and Technology Minister. The portfolio has been renamed several times since its creation, and has previously included Culture and Sport, which is now ...

May 2017, on YouTube * 15pxbr>Meet the VENUS satellite

, January 2017
Jerusalem from space: First images of the satellite VENUS
_Hebrew, Ynet news, 23 August 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:VENUS Israel Aerospace Industries satellites Spacecraft launched in 2017 Earth observation satellites of Israel Satellites of France 2017 in Israel 2017 in France Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets Israeli inventions CNES