Spain becomes third EU country with its own space satellite
Sunday, February 25, 2018 @ 8:38 PM
SPAIN'S first-ever satellite has been launched successfully into space from the military base in Vandenberg, California on the scheduled date, and will be a 'ground-breaking tool for protecting national security', according to Intelligence services.
The PAZ, which means 'peace' in Spanish, was taken up by the SpaceX rocket Falcon 9 at exactly 06.17 local time on Thursday (15.17 mainland Spain time), its launch having been postponed from the previous Sunday, and now hovers at 516 kilometres above the earth's surface.
PAZ's launch was streamed live worldwide in the same way as that of the Falcon Heavy, owned by the firm Elon Musk and, after Germany and Italy, makes Spain only the third country in the EU with its own observation satellite in space.
Secretary of State for Defence Agustín Conde Bajén, who travelled to California to oversee the launch, says the PAZ will be able to take accurate footage of the earth whatever the weather thanks to its high-resolution radar, which uses Synthetic-Opening Radar technology, which will be used both for civil and military purposes as well as gathering data which will be used in scientific research.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com