Thai Remote-sensing Satellite Readied For July 2007 Launch

Thai remote-sensing satellite readied for July 2007 launch

PARIS: -- THEOS, Thailand's first earth observation satellite is 80 per cent complete and is on schedule, being readied for launching into orbit in July next year, caretaker Science and Technology Minister Pravich Rattanapien said Thursday.

Mr. Pravich, visiting France, was briefed on the development of the THEOS construction project by administrators of EADS Astrium, the French company contracted to build and operate Thailand's satellite.

Construction is nearly finished and the satellite is expected to be launched into orbit at a Russian space station in July 2007 as scheduled. Construction will enter the last stage in November, at which time Thai journalists will be invited to view it at Toulouse.

EADS Astrium contracted for delivery of THEOS with the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) in Bangkok in 2004.

Thailand's satellite will be fully owned and operated by GISTDA and will provide the kingdom with worldwide geo-referenced image products and image-processing capabilities for applications in cartography, land use, agricultural monitoring, forestry management, coastal zone monitoring and flood risk management.

It will provide access to any part of the country in less than 2 days.

THEOS is aimed to assist Thailand in mastering its agriculture policy with a better production follow-up and an improved natural disaster management, especially relating to forest fires and flood response.

According to EADS Astrium president Antoine Bouvier, the firm offers a five-year guarantee for THEOS and regularly conducts training sessions for Thai specialists both in France and Thailand. A total 21 Thai

engineers and scientists have so far been offered training and scholarships.

In a related activity, China Thursday launched a science satellite for remote sensing according to Xinhua and Tass news agency reports.

A Chinese spacecraft weighing 2.7 tonnes was launched into orbit by a Changzheng (Long March) 4-B carrier rocket, according to the agencies.

Like the Thai THEOS satellite, China's satellite will conduct research and gather data on the terrestrial surface, including applications in agriculture and fire-fighting.

--TNA 2006-04-27