On December 5th, 2000, ImageSat international became the first, non-US-based company to successfully deploy a commercial, high-resolution, imaging satellite. This was EROS A, weighing in at 250 kg, which was propelled into its orbital slot by a Russian Start-1 launch vehicle.

The EROS A possesses a camera with a focal plane of Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detectors to produce a standard image resolution of 1.9 meters and sub-meter resolution using hypersampling techniques. The swath is 14 km at Nadir (perpendicular to the Earth’s surface). The satellite orbits at an altitude of ~500 km, with data transmission at 70 Mbit/s.

The second ImageSat satellite, EROS B, was launched on April 25th, 2006, also aboard a Russian Start-1. The EROS satellites’ orbital period, for one complete Earth revolution, is 94 to 96 minutes, with 15 revolutions completed around the Earth every 24 hours. There are two daylight passes each day through the footprint of a typical ground receiving station.

The EROS B is slightly larger in size to the EROS A, but quite similar in appearance. Updated capabilities include the use of a larger camera of the CCD/TDi genre (Charge Coupled Device/Time Delay Integration). A standard panchromatic resolution of 0.70m at an altitude of about 500 km is offered. Plus, the EROS B has a larger on-board recorder as well as improved pointing accuracy and a faster data communication link.