ALSAT 2

The project initiated in mid-2006 concerned the design and production of two high-resolution AlSAT-2 Earth observation satellite systems, which were expected to enter into service by 2009. The second Algerian satellite, ALSAT 2 B, was created at the national production base in Oran, and was launched in 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Chennai). The ALSAT-2 system contract signed with the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) in January 2006 is a comprehensive programme covering:

• design, development, integration and ground delivery of ALSAT-2A satellite
• design, development and ground delivery of ALSAT-2B equipment including optical payload
• design and development of associated ground segment facilities deployed in Algeria
• comprehensive training of Algerian engineers

The system will enable Algeria to obtain very high quality images for use in a wide variety of applications: cartography, management of agriculture, forestry, water, mineral and oil resources, crop protection, management of natural disasters and land planning from a synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 690km for a contractual life time of five years.

ALSAT-2 is the first Earth observation satellite system from the AstroSat100 micro-satellite product line based on the Myriade platform, developed jointly by Airbus Defence and Space and the French national space agency CNES.

ALSAT-2 is equipped with latest-generation optical payload capable of supplying images with a resolution of 2.5m in panchromatic mode and 10m in each of four color bands in multispectral mode. It has been specifically designed to provide very high performances in a size compatible with micro-satellite constraints.

The ALSAT-2 programme also includes the development and on-site installation of two ground control segments and one image station allowing the satellites to be operated and controlled from Algerian territory.

As part of the ALSAT-2 contract, more than 20 Algerian engineers joined the Airbus Defence and Space development team in Toulouse for about three years, receiving intensive and comprehensive training in space engineering, system operations and satellite integration. These engineers will form the core of ASAL operations team in charge of daily system in orbit operations, and will undertake the assembly and integration of ALSAT-2B satellite in Algeria.

ALSAT-2A Spatial resolution images is 2.5 m (panchromatic mode) and 10 m (multispectral mode, 4 bands). Swath Width is 17.5 km wtih the size scenes 17.5 km x 17.5 km; (tape 17.5 × 185) (Possibility of tape length up to 300 km). The production capacity is 100 scenes per day (> 30 000 km) Operational agility (tilt roll and pitch) and the ability to have images in stereoscopic mode.

ALSAT-2A was placed in orbit on 12 July 2010 aboard an Indian PSLV rocket from the Sriharikota launch base. ALSAT-2 is the fifth Earth observation export co-operation contract signed by Airbus Defence and Space. Since its launch the Alsat-2A satellite provided, to 9 July 2016, 147,432 product images on the entire earth. This represents a total length of mages gained more than 598,312 km, a covered area of more than 10,470,000 km2 and a capacity of more than 7.68 terabytes. The preponderance of Alsat-2A coverage on Algeria which represents nearly 50% of all acquired images, is a real indicator of our goal to give priority to concerns related to sustainable development of Algeria and the African continent. Indeed, with the African continent, the coverage rate Alsat-2A reached 73.5%.