On April 25 ImageSat launched the second very high resolution satellite in the EROS family – EROS B. The launch took place at the Cosmodrome in Svobodni, Siberia by a Start 1 launcher. It is expected to begin operation in few days. Similar to EROS A, the EROS B will provide better performance. The new satellite is expected to provide services for 8-10 years.
Slightly larger and similar in appearance to EROS A, the new satellite weighs 290 kg and have superior capabilities compared to EROS A, including a larger camera of CCD/TDI type (Charge Coupled Device/Time Delay Integration), with standard panchromatic resolution of 0.70 m at an altitude of about 500 km, a larger on-board recorder, improved pointing accuracy and a faster data communication link.
| Eros B specifications: | |
| Launch weight: | 290 kg |
| Orbit: | 500 km Sun Synchronous |
| Over-sampling: | 1.0 m |
| Swath width: | 7 km |
| Scanning: | Asynchronous push broom |
| Sensor type: | CCD / TDI (selectable) |
| Spectral band: | 0.5 – 0.9μ |
| Sampling depth: | 10 bits |
| Datalink rate: | 280 MBit/sec |
