What Leonardo, Tas, Telespazio and e-Geos do for Cosmo SkyMed
Launch of the new satellite of the Italian constellation Cosmo SkyMed, here is the role of Leonardo with the joint-ventures Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio and e-Geos
Second generation Cosmo-SkyMed satellite successfully launched.
After four consecutive postponements, the launch took place tonight at 00.11 Italian time from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral (Florida) with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
It is the second satellite of the new generation, promoted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Ministry of Defense, with the contribution of the Ministry of University and Research. With this launch, there will be six Cosmo SkyMed satellites currently in orbit. In other words, four of the first generation – of which the first launched between 2007 and 2010 – and two new ones.
The Italian industry also plays an important role in the program, with Leonardo and its subsidiaries and investee companies. The second satellite of the Cosmo-SkyMed constellation is in fact built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%). And it is managed in orbit by Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%).
All the details.
WHAT IS COSMO-SKYMED
The Cosmo-SkyMed Earth observation satellite system is the first to be born for dual purposes, civil and military, capable of observing our planet both day and night, in all weather conditions.
THE SECOND GENERATION
The CSG (Cosmo Skymed Second Generation) program with 2 satellites (PFM / FM2) was financed, with resources from the Defense and ASI, in order to equip the education / research and military sectors with a new system for Earth observation, now in the final phase. As stated in the Dpp 2020-2021, this supplementary program will allow to expand the constellation up to 4 satellites in orbit. The launches are expected by 2024/2025.
With the innovations of the second generation, Cosmo-SkyMed becomes the first SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) space system in the world. That is, capable of simultaneously acquiring two images of two areas hundreds of kilometers apart and thus of serving two requests that would have been in conflict for any other satellite system.
In the near future, the first generation satellites will be deorbited as the other two of the new generation are placed into orbit.
THALES ALENIA SPACE PROGRAM MANAGER
Leonardo Thales Alenia Space's joint venture is prime contractor of the program. The company is responsible for the entire COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation program, including the design and development of the satellites and the design, integration and commissioning of the end-to-end system.
THE ROLE OF TELESPAZIO
Telespazio is responsible for the design and development of the CSG ground segment and the provision of integrated logistics and operations services (ILS and OPS).
From Telespazio's Fucino Space Center, the launch and launch phase (LEOP – Launch and Early Orbit Phase) of the satellite is managed. Furthermore, the first telemetry data sent by the satellite are acquired from here.
LEONARDO'S FURTHER CONTRIBUTION TO COSMO-SKYMED
Leonardo also contributes to the program by supplying stellar attitude sensors for the orientation of the satellite, photovoltaic panels and electronic units for managing electrical power.
E-GEOS
The data generated by the Cosmo-SkyMed satellites are marketed all over the world by the company e-Geos (Telespazio 80%, Asi 20%). The latter develops applications and provides operational services based on the same data.
USED BY THE EU EMERGENCY MAPPING-RAPID MAPPING SERVICE
Finally, the data returned by the Cosmo-SkyMed system have provided fundamental information over the years in monitoring the environment and the territory, in safety or in the management of emergencies. As a participating mission in the European Copernicus program, for example, Cosmo-SkyMed was used by the European Commission's Emergency Mapping-Rapid Mapping service. The latter is led by an international consortium led by e-Geos, to monitor the recent volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, in the Canary archipelago, contributing with data and maps to the control of lava movements.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/cosa-fanno-leonardo-tas-telespazio-ed-e-geos-per-cosmo-skymed/ on Tue, 01 Feb 2022 15:03:17 +0000.