[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]On 7th May 2013, e2v high performance image sensors were launched into space on-board Vietnam's first optical Earth observation satellite, the Vietnam Natural Resources, Environment and Disaster Monitoring Satellite (VNRED Sat-1). The satellite was carried into orbit from French Guiana by VERTA 1, the second Vega launcher.

VNRED Sat-1 was built on behalf of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in Toulouse, France by Astrium, Europe‘s leading space technology company. Its primary mission is to monitor and study the effects of climate change, predict and take measures to prevent natural disasters, and optimise the management of Vietnam’s natural resources. It will do this by monitoring the shape of Vietnam's coastlines, the erosion of its rivers and the condition of its crops and forests.

VNRED Sat-1 has one sole instrument, an optical camera, which is enabled by an e2v backthinned Time Delay Integrated (TDI), Charged Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor. e2v worked closely with Astrium to carefully understand the requirements of the VNRED mission and provide the ideal solution; an e2v image sensor which provides very high sensitivity combined with flexibility of use and high level compactness. The optical camera will image at 2.5m resolution in panchromatic mode and 10m resolution in multi-spectral mode (four bands) with a 17.5km swath, and will orbit at 600-700km in a sun synchronous orbit.

Jean-Charles Terrien, Marketing Manager of high performance imaging solutions at e2v, said: “We are very pleased to be continuing our successful relationship with Astrium by supplying high performance image sensors for VNRED. This mission is another example of how e2v has provided a successful solution for Earth Observation applications. We look forward to seeing yet more high resolution images made possible by e2v solutions.”