SPOT (satellites)

SPOT (French: Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre,lit. "Satellite for observation of Earth") is a commercial high-resolution optical imaging Earth observation satellite system operating from space. It is run by Spot Image, based in Toulouse, France. It was initiated by the CNES (Centre national d'études spatiales – the French space agency) in the 1970s and was developed in association with the SSTC (Belgian scientific, technical and cultural services) and the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB). It has been designed to improve the knowledge and management of the Earth by exploring the Earth's resources, detecting and forecasting phenomena involving climatology and oceanography, and monitoring human activities and natural phenomena. The SPOT system includes a series of satellites and ground control resources for satellite control and programming, image production, and distribution. Earlier satellites were launched using the European Space Agency's Ariane 2, 3, and 4 rockets, while SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 were launched by the Indian PSLV.

SPOT Image is marketing the high-resolution images, which SPOT can take from every corner of the Earth.

The SPOT orbit is polar, circular, sun-synchronous, and phased. The inclination of the orbital plane combined with the rotation of the Earth around the polar axis allows the satellite to fly over any point on Earth within 26 days. The orbit has an altitude of 832 kilometers, an inclination of 98.7°, and completing 14 + 5/26 revolutions per day.

Since 1986 the SPOT family of satellites has been orbiting the Earth and has already taken more than 10 million high quality images. SPOT 1 was launched with the last Ariane 1 rocket on February 22, 1986. Two days later, the 1800 kg SPOT 1 transmitted its first image with a spatial resolution of 10 or 20 meters. SPOT 2 joined SPOT 1 in orbit on January 22, 1990, on the Ariane 4 maiden flight, and SPOT 3 followed on September 26, 1993, also on an Ariane 4.

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