UAE to launch Falcon Eye 1 satellite in July

The UAE will launch its fourth reconnaissance satellite next month, sending the Falcon Eye 1 into space on July 6.

The satellite will be launched into orbit from the French Guiana Space Centre in South America at 5.53am, UAE time, accord to state media agency WAM, brining to the total number of satellites in orbit to 10.  The UAE aims to have 12 satellites in orbit by 2020.

Weighing 1,500kg, Falcon Eye 1 was built by Airbus Defence and Space, and Thales Alenia. It will be launched via a Vega rocket by Arianespace.

The satellite is equipped with a high-resolution imager imaging system. The data it sends to ground control will be used for mapping, agricultural monitoring, urban planning, monitoring changes in the environment, and monitoring the UAE’s borders and coasts.

July’s launch comes on the back of October’s successful launch of the first fully Emirati-built satellite, KhalifaSat.

Watch Video: UAE’s KhalifaSat successfully launches into space

The satellite was designed, tested, built and managed by Emirati engineers at theMohammed bin Rashid Space Centre’s Advanced Technology Laboratories, making it the first satellite to be developed in the facility.

It will be used to provide images of earth for practical applications in disaster relief management, urban planning and environmental protection, among other uses.