Two new satellites of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) will be taken into space later this month by SpaceX. The instruments of Finnish origin are part of the Lessonia Project and will be used for remote sensing.
The information was revealed yesterday morning (23) by the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior, at an event with the press. During Breakfast with the Commander, Baptista Jr. spoke about the progress of several FAB strategic projects, including the two most important: the KC-390 tactical freighter and the F-39 Gripen multirole fighter. know more clicking here.
The two low-orbit radar remote sensing (SRR) satellites were manufactured by iceye from Finland. It was the company that signed the launch of the materials with billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, not the Air Force. In this way, the operation has no relation to the Musk's recent visit to Brazil, where he even received a medal from the government.
The contract between FAB and Iceye was signed in 2019. According to the Brigadier, the Lessonia System satellites will still undergo adjustments and will be operational in November, being controlled by the FAB Space Operations Center (COPE), based in Brasília and recently visited by commander.
baptist jr. said that the satellites will be launched from the Cape Canaveral base in Florida, but did not reveal the date of the operation.
Small satellites use SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology to obtain images with a resolution of up to two meters. According to the Commander, the images currently used by the Air Force Command have a lower resolution, of 40 meters. He highlighted that this “will bring positive impact” in the fight against crimes such as illegal mining in the Amazon, for example.
