The Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) has announced that three Algerian satellites – Alsat-1B, Alsat-2B and Alsat-1N – have been successfully launched on 26 September 2016 by an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), designated PSLV C35, from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Sriharikota site, known as the Satich Dahwan Space Center.
PSLV C35 put into orbit eight satellites including the three Algerian birds, according to ASAL.
Following Alsat-1 launched in 2002, Alsat-1B is the second medium-resolution earth observation satellite to be launched by Algeria. Alsat-1B has a panchromatic resolution of 12 metres and a multispectral resolution of 24 metres, and is Algeria’s latest contribution to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation for International Imaging (DMCii), an organisation originally created by the British satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), and operated by Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Alsat-1N is a nano-satellite that will demonstrate several technologies including an AstroTube boom, a camera offering three fields of view, and a thin-film solar cell. All of these have been developed under a cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) by a team of Algerian-British researchers.
Lastly, Alsat-2B is a high-resolution earth observation satellite built by Airbus Defense & Space and then integrated by the Algerian Centre National des Techniques Spatiales (CNTS) located in Oran, Algeria. Alsat-2B has a panchromatic resolution of 2.5 metres and a multispectral resolution (in four colour modes) of 10 metres.
Using the New AstroSat Optical Modular Instrument (NAOMI) camera, Alsat-2B will enable Algeria to acquire very high quality imagery for the purposes of cartography, the management of agriculture, water forestry, and mineral, oil, and gas resources throughout Algeria.
The primary payload of ISRO’s PSLV-C35 was ISRO’s latest meteorological satellite, SCATSAT-1. Other satellites on-board included the Canadian University of Toronto’s NLS-19; BlackSky’s Pathfinder-1 earth observation satellite; and two experimental satellites built by Indian universities called Pratham and PISAT
Original published at: http://spacewatchme.com/2016/09/three-algerian-satellites-successfully-launched-india/
