Viet Nam’s first remote sensing satellite, VNREDSat-1, was launched into orbit from the Guiana Space Center, French Guiana at 9:06 a.m (local time) on May 7.

The Vega rocket carried VNRED Sat-1 to operate at an altitude of 665km.

As scheduled, it will take 2 hours and 48 minutes for the rocket to bring three satellites Proba-V (Belgium), VNREDSat-1 (Viet Nam) and ESTCube-1 (Estonia) to the orbit.

The first signal from VNREDSat-1 would be sent to monitor equipment at 2:30 p.m. on May 7 (local time) said Dr. Bui Trong Tuyen, Deputy Director of Institute of Space Technology.

VNREDSat-1 will connect with the remote sensing satellite image receiving, storing and processing system run by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to form a completed system. 

VNREDSat-1 with a five-year life span has the total investment of €55.8 million sourced by the French Government’s Official Development Assistance and the Vietnamese side’s contribution of nearly VND65 billion (around $3.2 million).

Earlier, Viet Nam launched two telecommunication satellites, Vinasat 1 and Vinasat 2 in 2008 and 2012, respectively