Vietnamese deal puts Spacebel in the mix for small satellites

August 23, 2011 at 10:19 am | Posted in Space Law Current Events | Leave a comment

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: Space News

Backed by national and regional government authorities, Liege-based Spacebel is expected to sign the contract for the 100-kilogram Vietnamese satellite in March during a Belgian state visit to Vietnam. The satellite will carry an optical imager capable of taking pictures with a 2.5-meter resolution in black-and-white mode, and 10 meters in color.

Spacebel Managing Director Thierry du Pre-Werson said Vietnamese authorities wanted to diversify their satellite supplier mix. The win, he said, should help better position Spacebel in what is likely to be a series of competitions to provide countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia with small spacecraft to permit closer government oversight of agricultural, land and water resources. [Full story]