Broadcastprome
Morocco will launch the Mohammed VI-B earth observation satellite from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana Tuesday, November 20, 2018.
This civilian satellite, piloted from Morocco, is capable of taking images in less than 24 hours with a resolution of up to 70 cm. Designed for civil use, the Mohammed Vl-B satellite will be launched a little over a year after the launch of the Mohammed VI-A satellite on November 8, 2017.
Produced by Thales Alenia Space as system prime contractor and Airbus as co-prime, the MOHAMMED VI ? B satellite has an estimated liftoff mass of 1,108 kg. and will be deployed into a Sun-synchronous orbit. Once in orbit, it will be used primarily for mapping and land surveying activities, regional development, agricultural monitoring, the prevention and management of natural disasters, monitoring changes in the environment and desertification, as well as border and coastal surveillance.
It is the second satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco’s MOHAMMED VI ? A & B program, following Arianespace’s Vega launch of the MOHAMMED VI ? A satellite in November 2017. Designed to be complementary, the two spacecraft will work together to enable faster coverage of zones of interests.
Flight VV13 will be Arianespace’s ninth mission in 2018, and is the company’s second this year using a Vega launcher – which is one of three launch vehicles operated by Arianespace at the Spaceport, along with the medium-lift Soyuz and heavyweight Ariane 5. Vega is provided to Arianespace by Italy’s Avio, which is the industrial prime contractor.
