Using The Soyuz, Chile Launched a New Satellite

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, and Defense Minister Andres Allamand, oversaw the launch of the rocket from the Satellite Control Center located in El Bosque air base in Santiago, Chile.

The launch was held at the Jupiter Control Centre, located in the city of Kourou, French Guiana, where the Chilean Minister of Defense was last Friday to meet in person the details of this operation.

The rocket departed at 23.04 hours on Friday (02.04 GMT), just one minute later than planned , and it is expected that the Chilean satellite separates from him to the 2.29 hours of Chile (5.29 GMT).

The third key moment in this release is scheduled for 4.34 hours (7.34 GMT), when the satellite must establish your first contact with Earth through an antenna that is located in the town of Kiruna, Sweden , near the North Pole.

It is estimated that by 11.18 am able to keep a second contact, this time in Chile , through the Satellite Control Centre, built for it and where you operate this device.

Satellite System Earth Observation (SSOT) FASat Charlie was built on a platform “AstroSat 100″, developed jointly by the French Space Agency (CNES) and European consortium EADS Astrium.

The device will deliver images that are used in tasks such as monitoring borders and intelligence to civilian applications, such as agricultural and urban planning, disaster control and environmental protection.

The satellite, which weighs about 130 kilos and is 1.4 meters high and three feet wide, will move to an orbit 620 kilometers away from Earth at a speed of 7.5 kilometers per second, and will useful life of five years.

It has a three-mirror Korsch telescope and can capture images at resolutions of 1.45-meter resolution.

After a month and a half of testing, the first images could be available within two months, said Friday the commander of the Air Force of Chile, Christian Stuart, a National Television.

The total project cost of $ 72 million, including the building of satellite control center, training of staff Fach and satellite delivery, among other items.

This is the third satellite in space sends Chile, and with him is to enter definitively into the space race, according to a Defense Ministry statement.

The first FASat-Alpha, was released in 1995, but failed to separate from its rocket.

The second FASat-Bravo, was launched into orbit in 1998 and was operational until 2001, when he presented flaws in the process of charging your batteries.