The SPOT 5 satellite was placed into orbit by an Ariane 42P launcher
on Arianespace flight 151, 4 May 2002 at 3:31 a.m. Paris time.
Operational teams at the CNES Space Centre in Toulouse , France,
immediately took control of the satellite, which was stabilized one
hour after launch and operational near midday the same day.
Configuration of the payload then began with the acquisition of.
the first image by the Vegetation instrument on 5 May, 2002;
the first images by the HRG (High Resolution Geometric) and HRS (High
Resolution Stereoscopic) instruments on 7 May 2002, following their
initial calibration.
On 15 May 2002, SPOT 5 reached its final orbital position after two
orbit adjustment manoeuvres.
All bus systems and payload instruments have been switched on. The
HRG, HRS and Vegetation instruments are all working perfectly.
Initial performance assessments are good and suggest that, after
instrument calibration scheduled during in-orbit checkout, products
will be within specifications and of excellent quality.
The SPOT programme has been developed by CNES in cooperation with
Belgium and Sweden. Astrium is the prime contractor of the SPOT 5
satellite. Alcatel Space has contributed to numerous equipment systems
and is the prime contractor for the Vegetation instrument. Spot Image
distributes Spot products and data throughout the world.
For further information : www.cnes.fr – www.spotimage.com
