At 06.17 hours local time (14.17 hours GMT) on 22 February the satellite PAZ blasted off successfully atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA.

PAZ, part of Spain’s National Satellite Earth-Observation Program (Programa Nacional de Observación de la Tierra por Satélite: PNOTS), is equipped with high resolution radar imaging technology, capable of working in any weather or light conditions.

The satellite carries onboard a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which will pool all recorded data to build up maps of a great variety of environments of national and commercial interest. Although this technology was first taken up in the eighties of last century, Paz is the first satellite capable of combining data compiled by the SAR and the AIS receiver, also carried onboard the satellite. AIS is short for Automatic Identification System, i.e., a commonly used ship tracking device.

Eighteen European firms and 3 Spanish universities have been involved in the mission. GMV forms part of the industrial group that has worked on the mission’s ground segment, holding responsibility for setting up the control center, the precise tracking system and the planning system. GMV is also responsible for providing the radar-image-distribution and user-management system, both for civil and defense users.

This hexagonal polyhedron, weighing nearly a ton and a half, will orbit our planet about 15 times a day, covering a wide swathe of 300,000 km2 every 24 hours, in a sun-synchronous orbit at a height of about 500 km.

The satellite will carry an Extreme Precipitation and Radio Occultation (Radio Ocultación y Precipitación Extrema: ROHP) experiment of the Space Science Institute (Instituto de Ciencia del Espacio) of the Higher Council of Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), which will study atmospheric phenomena by analyzing GPS signal occultation upon crossing the atmosphere. This productive mission will also contribute towards the Copernicus space program, Europe’s biggest security and environmental monitoring program. Specifically, Paz falls within Mission Group 1 (SAR, VHR1 and MR1), the first of the five mission groups designed to improve this service of the ESA program.

The Origins

Spain’s National Satellite Earth-Observation Program (Programa Nacional de Observación de la Tierra por Satélite: PNOTS) is an agreement signed between Spain’s MoD and the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce (Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio). Under CDTI funding the company HISDESAT is responsible for the space segment and INTA for the ground segment.

This program has spawned two satellites, Paz and Ingenio. Paz arose as a response to the Spanish Airforce’s demand for radar technology of these characteristics, while aiming at the same time to meet civil needs. Ingenio, based on optical technology, meets civil and governmental needs and is expected to be operational by 2020.

2007 was the year when the program’s starting pistol was fired. Only ten years later, with the launch of the first satellite, the project is a reality. This new step will boost Spain’s satellite-based earth-observation autonomy.