VENµS (Vegetation and environment monitoring on a new micro satellite)

Abstract

VENμS is an Earth observation demonstration mission developed in cooperation between FRANCE and ISRAEL. This dual mission gathers both a scientific mission (earth imaging) and a technological mission (Hall Effect Thruster). The main scientific goal of VENμS is to acquire data over land in order to improve the understanding and modeling of land surface and vegetation processes, and to develop new applications such as water balance, crop yield and carbon fluxes assessments. The uncommon features of the VENμS scientific are: 2 day revisit, high resolution (5.3m), spectral richness (12 bands), and constant viewing angles from the satellite at constant sun lighting angles. This unique combination will allow the development of new image processing methods. The satellite also flies a technological mission which aims at qualifying an electric propulsion technology and demonstrating its mission enhancement for low altitude missions and LEO orbits transfer.