Arianespace To Launch Vietnamese Satellite

The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology has signed a contract with Arianespace to launch its VNREDSat-1A satellite. The satellite is intended for Earth observations to assist with scientific research, and will be constructed by Astrium. In the second quarter of this year, the satellite will be launched by Arianespace’s Vega rocket. The satellite will be placed into sun-synchronous orbit about 670km above the Earth’s surface. A sun-synchronous orbit means that the satellite will cross the same latitudes at the same time. That means that the same spot on the Earth being observed will have consistent lighting as the satellite orbits the Earth, making it easier to see changes over time. More

(Source: Forbes - Jan 6)