EROS A1

Launch data: Designation 26631 / 00079A Launch date 05 Dec 2000 - 12:32 UT Launch site  Svobodny Cosmodrome Launch vehicle Start-1 (#5) Mission Military/Commercial: Remote sensing Sun-Synchronous LEO Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  491 x 502 km Eccentricity  8,01E-04 Inclination  97.3 deg Period  94.55 min

• In Feb 2000 it was announced that funding problems and the failure of a circuit board delayed the launch.
• EROS-A 1 is a commercial imaging satellite which can provide a ground resolution of one metre or less, and thus its images can be purchased by governments and other organisations which would not otherwise have access to such high-resolution photography from space. The primary customer is the Israeli government, since the launch of Israel's next domestic Ofeg photoreconnaissance satellite has been delayed because of budget problems.

Mission details:

• High resolution imaging satellite; obtain images (with terrain width of 12.6 km) of locations chosen by Israeli military or worldwide commercial clients; in Jan. 2001 Ministry of Defense bought rights to all imaging of Israel and territories within 2,000 km radius.
• 1.8 m resolution, the following will have 82 cm resolution; 12.5 km swath width. Camera from Elop Electro-Optics Industries Ltd. ("El-Op").
  70 Mbps downlink, probably in X-band.
• No onboard recording, all the data must be downloaded in realtime by earth stations (Prince Albert CA, Gatineau CA, Cordobe AR, Kiruna SE, IT, RU, Hartebeesthoek ZA, Tel Aviv IL, Singapore SG, KR, JP).