spacetoday.net: EADS to build imaging satellite for Thailand

Posted: Mon, Jul 19, 2004, 2:19 PM ET (1819 GMT)
THEOS satellite illustration (EADS)

European aerospace company EADS announced Monday that it has signed a contract with Thailand's space agency to build a remote sensing satellite that may also have military applications. EADS reached an agreement with the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology's Space Agency to build the Thai Earth Observation System, or THEOS, satellite and accompanying ground stations. THEOS is based on EADS's AstroSat imaging satellite platform, and features a camera with a resolution of two meters per pixel. According to a statement, the satellite will be used for a variety of purposes, including agricultural monitoring and forestry management. However, Thai military officials told the AFP news service that they planned to use the satellite to monitor separatist groups in the southern part of the country as well as look for drug smuggling routes into the country from Burma. The value of the contract was not announced, but Reuters valued it at 130 million euros (US$160 million.) The satellite is scheduled for launch into LEO in mid-2007, although no launch contract has been announced.