The Airbus-built PAZ radar satellite was successfully launched late last month from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base; 10min after launch, the satellite was in its 514km-high orbit and in contact with the DLR Ground Control Centre in Germany, before being handed over to the Ground Control Centre at INTA (Instituto Nacional de Técnicas Aeroespaciales) in Torrejón de Ardóz, near Madrid.

The satellite will be operated by INTA and Hisdesat (owner of the satellite) technical teams. During the next three months, tests will be carried out to validate the correct functioning of the spacecraft and its radar.

As prime contractor, Airbus Spain built the PAZ satellite, leading a team of 15 European companies and three universities.

Nicolas Chamussy, head of space systems at Airbus, said: “PAZ is the first Spanish radar satellite, and it has now joined the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites in the same orbit, forming a very-high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar constellation.

“Environment monitoring, management of natural resources, urban and agricultural planning and crisis evaluation are just a few examples of the numerous applications this satellite will be used for.”