EROS B


The Earth Remote Observation System-B is the second satellite launched in a series of the EROS family of Israeli commercial Earth observation satellites, designed and manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries. It is owned and operated by ImageSat International. Originally the satellite was to be the first of a constellation of 4 EROS-B satellites, but the 3 following satellites were cancelled, leaving the satellite to be the only EROS-B satellite.
The EROS B was launched on April 25, 2006 from Svobodny Launch Complex in eastern Siberia.

Spacecraft

The craft is 2.3m in height and 1.2m in diameter. It weighted 290 kg at launch. The design of the satellite is based on the military reconnaissance satellite Ofeq 3, which was previously built, also by IAI for Israeli government use.

Control Systems

The satellite is equipped with a 3-axis stabilized and a four reaction wheels actuator. The satellite is also equipped with horizon sensors, sun sensors, gyroscopes and magnetometer for altitude determination.

Ground Communication Systems

The satellite is equipped with an imagery link four times faster than the EROS A at 280Mbit/s, a 15 kbit/s maintenance downlink, and a 15kbit/s command uplink.

Operation

The satellite offers an optical resolution of 70 cm, and as of launch date plans were to use it to monitor Iran's developing nuclear program for potential threats to Israeli security.
The satellite is equipped with a CCD push broom scanner array, which provides 10,000 pixels per line and a total of 96 lines for selectable TDI observation support. The spacecraft can be operated in both asynchronous and synchronous imaging mode. It has a Ground Sampling Distance of 0.70 m panchromatic.
Unlike the EROS A whose primary purpose is to support agricultural engineers, the EROS B is more specifically designed for illegal construction supervision, general infrastructure monitoring, and emergency monitoring such as oil and gas exploration.
EROS B is the first commercial satellite to offer high spatial resolution images of night-time lights from space.