****************************************************************************** DORISMail 03-May-2002 14:59:54 Message No 0186 ****************************************************************************** Author: Tavernier Gilles Subject: SPOT5 launch The flight 151 ARIANE 42P will launch SPOT5 from Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:31am Paris local time on May, 4 (Guiana 10:31pm local time, 1:31am Universal Time). SPOT 5 will be the fifth satellite in the Earth observation SPOT series, placed into orbit by an Ariane launcher. It is the fourth fitted out with a DORIS instrument. Since the first SPOT satellite was launched in 1986, the SPOT system has sought to provide continuity of service and constantly improved quality of products for users in various fields such as: agriculture,mapping, urban planning, forest management, natural disaster management, geology,oil and mineral exploration, water resources management, costal studies and oceanography, monitoring and surveillance. The 2nd generation miniaturized DORIS instrument on-board SPOT5, offers the same new features as the receiver flying on-board Jason-1 since December, 7 2001: - dual-channel allowing simultaneous measurements from two stations - improved accuracy and new phase measurement - on-board orbit determination - improved autonomy through selft-initialization, self-programming - TAI time-tagging As for previous instruments, SPOT5 DORIS data will be distributed to Data Centers after in-flight assessment and commissioning. Gilles TAVERNIER _____________________________________________________ CNES DSO/ED/AL/MA - Bpi 2002 Phone : 33 - (0)5 61 27 37 76 18, avenue Edouard Belin Fax : 33 - (0)5 61 28 25 95 31 401 TOULOUSE CEDEX 4 Email : Gilles.Tavernier@cnes.fr _____________________________________________________ [ Part 2: "Attached Text" ] Please do not reply directly to this message, but send comments and suggestions to IDS.central.bureau@cls.fr