The military Earth observation satellite CSO-2 (Composante spatiale optique), built by Airbus for the French Armed Forces, was successfully launched by Soyuz rocket from the Kourou European Space Station in Guyana.
CSO-2 is the second of three satellite surveillance satellites that will provide extremely high-resolution geographic information intelligence to the French Armed Forces and their partners within the framework of the MUSIS (Multinational Space-Based Imaging System for Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Observation) cooperation program. CSO satellites are equipped with a very agile pointing system and controlled via a secure ground control operations center. Constellation offers 3-dimensional and very high resolution imaging in visible and infrared bandwidths, enabling day and night acquisition and maximizing operational use.
The same as CSO-1, the CSO-2 satellite will be placed in a lower polar orbit at an altitude of 480 km to fulfill the program's identification task.
As the main contractor of the CSO satellite program, Airbus will be responsible for the integration study, testing and delivery of the satellite to CNES, as well as providing fast adaptation and avionics. Thales Alenia Space provides Airbus with a very high resolution optical device.
Airbus teams will continue to lead User Location Segment operations here as well as currently running legacy programs (Helios, Pleiades, SarLupe, Cosmo-Skymed).
Airbus won the CSO tender at the end of 2010 by the French National Center for Space Research CNES, acting on behalf of the French Armaments General Directorate (DGA).
The contract also included a third satellite option enabled after Germany joined the program in 2015.
Jean-Marc Nasr, President of Airbus Space Systems, said: "Thanks to our close partnership with the French MoD since the beginning of the French Space adventure, we now have a great deal of expertise provided by the Space command, CNES and DGA, as well as industry and partners, in particular Thales Alenia Space.zam Thanks to your support, we have achieved this again. Providing the most modern and efficient monitoring capability for the safety of our citizens and the sovereignty and independence of France and Europe, the CSO satellite is a real breakthrough in resolution, complexity, transmission security, reliability and usability: few countries can demonstrate such capability.' said.
Your satellite's muazzam Its agility and stability enable users to quickly transmit extremely high-quality images from the Thales Alenia Space instrument, even for the most complex acquisition programs.
The CSO satellite is built on the decades of experience, innovation and success Airbus has gained in the work of Helios 1, Pleiades and Helios 2. Airbus also used next-generation gyroscopic actuators, fiber optic gyroscopes, onboard electronics and control software to optimize weight and inertia and significantly increase marking speed.
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