Tim Furniss/LONDON
MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) and the European Space Agency have signed a $700 million deal for the development of a polar-platform spacecraft.
The first, called the Envisat 1, will be launched aboard an Ariane 5 in 1999, to be operated in an 800km circular polar orbit with a suite of ten environmental-monitoring instruments. It will weigh about 8,000kg and measure 25m long, 10m wide and 5.5m high.
The original polar-platform configuration, designed by the former British Aerospace Space Systems, now part of MMS (UK), has been replaced by the MMS spacecraft bus developed for the Spot 4 programme, a derivative of which will be used for the Meteosat METOP follow-on programme.
MMS (UK) will remain polar-platform prime contractor, leading a team of 37 European companies, including Fokker in The Netherlands, which will develop the largest solar array built in Europe, to provide end-of-life power of 7.5kW. The UK and France lead the programme, which will fulfil Earth-observation roles.
MMS will also develop the advanced synthetic-aperture radar for the Envisat 1, together with the advanced along-track-scanning radiometer and a global-ozone-monitoring instrument.
Source: Flight International
