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UAE Satellite Falcon Eye 2 Launches into Space

The UAE’s latest satellite, Falcon Eye 2,
lifted off into space in the early hours of
Wednesday from French Guiana Space
Centre. A Soyuz rocket carried the satellite
into orbit at 5.33am UAE time. It will op-
erate as an Earth-observation satellite and
provide images for critical missions, emer-
gency relief, regional security and peace-
keeping operations. It will also monitor
environmental changes and alterations to
geographical features. The satellite, which
weighs 1,190 kilograms, separated from
the rocket at 6.33am and was placed in a
near-circular orbit 611 kilometers above
Earth. As part of the Falcon Eye program,
two identical satellites were built for the
UAE Armed Forces. The first was Falcon
Eye 1, which was lost in space last year around the world for military and civilian the Falcon Eye program. An Emirati team
after the Italian Vega rocket that carried use. “The Falcon Eye system added lots of in France oversaw the project from there.
it failed. The launch of Falcon Eye 2 was abilities to support the country’s mission “I’m honored that my country provided
delayed a few times in the past couple of by maintaining the security of the country me with the chance to be part of this high
months because of bad weather and the and the stability of the region,” a senior technological program,” an engineer said
Covid-19 pandemic. “We are proud in this official with the Falcon Eye project said. during the live stream. Another said it was
moment and I’d like to thank my crew and “It is really considered to be a capabili- exciting to see how the satellite “will bring
to the Emirates for working side by side ty owned by a few countries worldwide.” value to our country". Philippe Pham, se-
with their partner for five years,” Khalifa The project began five years ago and the nior vice president of Earth observation,
Al Rumaithi, chairman of Falcon Eye pro- satellite was built by Airbus Defence and navigation and science at Airbus Defence
gram, said during a live stream by launch Space and Thales Alenia Space, in Tou- and Space, said his team would hand over
service provider Arianespace. “I confirm louse, France. The UAE Space Agency control of the satellite once they ensured
that tonight we’ve been successful with oversaw its development. A diverse team it was fully operational. “We are proud to
the Soyuz launch and Falcon Eye is in its that included Emirati, French and Russian lead the industrial team and to be part of
targeted orbit," said Stephane Israel, chief officials was present for the launch. Many a very high-resolution Earth-observation
executive of Arianespace. The spacecraft experienced engineers and technicians mission for the UAE,” he said. “Falcon Eye
will provide high-definition images from from the UAE Armed Forces are part of is a state-of-the-art satellite. But it’s not
just a satellite, it’s a full space system, in-
cluding the ground segment and the imag-
ery processing capabilities. It will deliver
top-quality observation imagery for the
customer.” Airbus trained the Emirati team
to operate the satellite’s systems. This will
enable ground control in Abu Dhabi to re-
trieve images and intelligence reports. Mi-
chel Roux, Falcon Eye program director at
Airbus, said this had been one of their lon-
gest launch campaigns because of the de-
lays caused by the pandemic. “We started
early this year, but the campaign had been
stopped for several months,” he said. “This
is the year of Covid-19 and with lockdown,
travel restrictions and the difficulty to work
normally, it created several delays.”
48 DECEMBER 2020