25260 - SPOT 4

SPOT 4 (Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) was a French remote sensing/reconnoissance spacecraft launched from the Kourou space center aboard an Ariane 40 rocket at 01:46 UT from Kourou on 24 March 1998. It carried multispectral cameras to monitor vegitation at 1 km resolution and other cameras to provide 10 to 20 meter resolution pictures. Also on board was a DORIS package to ascertain the spacecraft coordinates, and a SILEX instrument to enable laser transmission of the data to an Artemis satellite. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.9 min, apogee 811 km, perigee 791 km, and inclination 98.8 deg.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1998-03-24
Launch Vehicle: Ariane 40
Launch Site: Kourou, French Guiana