The Vega launcher fairing housing the Pléiades Neo 4 satellite (and several others) prior to launch. Courtesy Airbus.

The latest Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellite has been lofted into orbit from French Guiana aboard an Arianespace Vega launcher.

Pléiades Neo 4 is the second unit of what will become a four-satellite constellation, built, owned and operated by Airbus. Neo 3 was launched earlier this year.

Pléiades Neo 4 will have the same Sun-synchronous orbit as Pléiades Neo 3 but 180° out of phase. Once the constellation is complete it will provide coverage of every spot on Earth between two and four times per day.

The constellation will offer native resolution of 30 cm with an imaging swath of 14km, which Airbus says is the widest in its category.

“Pléiades Neo will offer a truly best-in-class capability to our customers and will strongly enhance our position in the very high-resolution market” said François Lombard, Head of Intelligence at Airbus Defence and Space.

“The first images from Pléiades Neo 3 are outstanding and confirm that we took the right decision in terms of design and performance to address the increasingly demanding requirements of the geospatial sector.”

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