Arianespace has lofted the MOHAMMED VI – B satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana — in doing so, this event marks the 13th consecutive success of the company's lightweight Vega launcher since entering service in 2012.
The launch of the MOHAMMED VI – B satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco by Arianespace via a VEGA launch vehicle.
Photo is courtesy of Arianespace.
Designated Flight VV13 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, this was the 10th mission with an Earth Observation (EO) spacecraft performed by Vega to date. Overall, the MOHAMMED VI – B satellite was the 67th EO platform orbited by Arianespace with the firm's family of launch vehicles for commercial and institutional customers.
Thales Alenia Space is system prime contractor for the MOHAMMED VI – B satellite, supplying the payload — including the optical instrument, the image transmission subsystem, and the ground segment for image processing and production. Airbus, as satellite prime contractor, was in charge of its integration, as well as supplying the platform and the ground segment for mission planning and satellite control.
Artistic rendition of Morocco's MOHAMMED VI – B satellite on orbit.
The mission lasted 55 minutes from liftoff to payload separation and placed the satellite passenger into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Once operational, the MOHAMMED VI – B satellite will be used primarily for mapping and land surveying activities, regional development, agricultural monitoring, the prevention and management of natural disasters, monitoring changes in the environment and desertification, as well as border and coastal surveillance.
Flight VV13 was Arianespace’s second Vega mission in 2018, and the ninth this year using a member of the company’s three-member launcher family, which also includes the heavyweight Ariane 5 and medium-lift Soyuz.
This is the second satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco’s MOHAMMED VI †A & B program, following Arianespace’s Vega launch of the MOHAMMED VI †A satellite in November 2017. Designed to be complementary, the two EO spacecraft will work together to enable faster coverage of zones of interests.
Executive Comments
In post-launch comments from the Spaceport, Luce Fabreguettes – the Arianespace EVP for Missions, Operations & Purchasing, thanked the Kingdom of Morocco for their continued confidence in the company’s launch services, and once again underscored Arianespace’s commitment to Earth observation missions. She noted that with a full range of launchers, Arianespace is particularly committed to this segment, which echoes the company's mission: to put space at the service of a better life on Earth. European launches are an answer adapted to the needs of this dynamic market. This is reflected in the Arianespace order book, almost 30 percent of which is composed of EO satellites.
Speaking from the Spaceport after Flight VV13’s conclusion, Fabreguettes announced that the company’s next liftoff is set for December 4 using an Ariane 5 to orbit two geostationary orbit satellites: the GSAT-11 communications spacecraft for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO); and the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A meteorological observation and space weather monitoring platform for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
