Airbus Defence and Space has published the first images obtained from the SPOT 7 satellite, a mere three days after its launch on 30 June. Over the last few hours, the entire chain - from satellite programming and image acquisition to telemetry reception and processing - was successfully put into operation to deliver these first spectacular images.

These images show highly diverse landscapes, revealing SPOT 7's full potential in terms of natural resource and urban zone mapping and agri-environmental monitoring.

The SPOT 6/7 constellation is now in place and considerably improves the capabilities and performance offered by SPOT 5, which has been in operation since 2002 and which is scheduled to be decommissioned from commercial service during the first quarter of 2015.

This new constellation offers a higher resolution, greater programming reactivity and a much higher volume of images acquired daily (in monoscopic or stereoscopic mode).

SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 mark the dawning of a new era for the SPOT family in forming a constellation of high-resolution Earth observation satellites phased at 180 degrees in the same orbit.

This means that each point on the globe can be revisited on a daily basis and wide areas covered in record time, all with an unparalleled level of precision. With both satellites in orbit, acquisition capacity will be boosted to six million square kilometres per day - an area ten times the size of France.

With the very-high-resolution twin satellites Pleiades 1A and 1B, SPOT 6 and now SPOT 7, Airbus Defence and Space's optical satellite constellation will offer the company's customers a high level of detail across wide areas, a highly reactive image programming service and unique surveillance and monitoring capabilities.