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Summary Russian Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana - only second such vehicle to fly out.
The Soyuz put six satellites in orbit, including Frances new Pleiades-1 high-resolution imaging spacecraft, a media report said.This satellite is designed to take pictures that resolve features on the ground as small as 50cm across.The capability will put it on a par with the leading US commercial systems operated by GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.Lift-off occurred on schedule at 23:03 local time, (02:03 GMT, Saturday), with Pleiades-1 being dropped off in its 700km-high polar orbit some 55 minutes later.The 970kg satellite is the result of a near-decade-long programme in the French space agency (Cnes) to develop one of the most powerful Earth observation systems in the world.The spacecrafts sensor actually has a resolution of 70cm, but image processing will recover detail that is around the half-metre mark.Pleiades carries gyroscopes that allow it to swivel its telescope in quick time, enabling it to acquire a strip, or mosaic, of images around its target in a single pass overhead.The Pleiades spacecraft has been assembled by Astrium, Europes largest space company, with its instrument supplied by Thales Alenia Space (France).It will have both a civilian and military role, and a number of European countries (Austria, Belgium, Spain and Sweden) have part-funded the project to get access to its pictures.Pleiades-1 will be followed by Pleiades-2 on a separate Soyuz launch in 2012.The fact that we will have two, twin satellites operating in a phased orbit separated by 180 degrees will give us something very powerful - a daily re-visit capacity. It means we will be able to gather information every day on any part of the globe, explained Charlotte Gabriel Robez, Pleiades project manager with Astrium Geo-information Services.
