PeruSAT-1, a future very high resolution Earth observation satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space for CONIDA, the Peruvian Space Agency, is taking shape with the instrument now mated onto the platform. The satellite will soon undergo a comprehensive test campaign as a complete system.

The integration work, carried out in the cleanrooms of Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France), is progressing well on schedule so as to deliver the satellite less than two years after the entry into force of the contract, a record delivery time for such a powerful satellite system. The launch of PeruSAT-1 is scheduled for mid-2016.

The turnkey solution used on PeruSAT-1 incorporates a very advanced silicon carbide Naomi family instrument designed to deliver imagery at 70 cm resolution over a lifetime of 10 years, which is integrated on Airbus Defence and Space's new AstroBus-S, a very agile and compact platform with advanced technological features and components developed in cooperation with CNES, the French Space Agency, in the frame of the Myriades-Evolution initiative.

PeruSAT-1 will be the most powerful Earth observation satellite operated from Latin America.

PeruSAT-1 is a comprehensive programme that includes not only this latest-generation optical satellite, but also a ground control and image reception and processing segment in the Peruvian National Centre for Satellite Imagery Operation (CNOIS), built by Airbus Defence and Space.

One of the project's goals is to develop Peru's competences in space technologies, satellite operation and appropriate imaging applications, and Airbus Defence and Space is supplying images from its fleet of optical and radar satellites. More than 80 Peruvian specialists are taking part in the technology transfer program in Toulouse and in Lima.