RapidEye 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

RapidEye [RapidEye]

The RapidEye satellite constellation is a dedicated system for commercial Earth observation, consisting of four mini-satellites, which carry a CCD-based imaging system.

The CCD-based earth imaging system (6 spectral bands including visible, near infra-red and panchromatic) will consist of two cameras allowing the generation of images of up to 150 km × 1000 km at a resolution of 6.5 meters.

Each satellite has the capability of performing an off-track rotation. The camera's imaging swath of approx. 150 km combined with an off-track angle of ±22° ensures daily global accessibility.

The RapidEye Mission were launched in 2008. The five satellites were launched on one vehicle and placed in a common sun-synchronous orbit of 620 km, with the satellites equally spaced about 19 minutes apart in their orbit, ensuring frequent imaging of particular areas of interest. The satellites can be redirected anytime through the telemetry, tracking and command unit. A data handling and storage unit is situated onboard each satellite as well as a high-speed X-band communication system. The designed lifetime of these satellites is 7 years.

The taiwanese Argo satellite was planned to join the constellation as a sixth satellite, but this cooperation was dissolved.