A French military “eye” in orbit

The European launch vehicle Ariane 5 has just successfully placed a French military reconnaissance satellite, Helios 2B, in orbit.

 

Helios 2B (illustration) will provide images in the visible and infrared ranges not only for France, but also for the programme’s 5 other partner countries: Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece and Germany. Credit: CNES/D. Ducros

Five years after its predecessor, logically dubbed Helios 2A, Helios 2B has been taken into orbit by an Ariane 5. According to the actual words used by the CNES, the French Space Agency, this new satellite is going to "boost military reconnaissance" of the nation.

To the exact second
Today’s launch was a rather special case as Ariane 5 had to leave the Guiana Space Centre at exactly 16:26 UT (Universal Time)! There is usually a time window, that is to say, from several minutes to several hours on a given day in which the blast-off will enable the mission objectives to be achieved. Said time window only lasts for a few minutes each day for a space shuttle heading off to the International Space Station. Outside of this time, the American space shuttle would not be able to meet up with the ISS in the best possible way or even at all (too much fuel would be needed). Telecommunications satellites, however, tend to have wider time windows, sometimes spanning several hours. But this was not the case with Helios 2B which is to follow an heliosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km. This means that it will always go over a given point at the same solar time (making it easier to compare two photographs as the lighting conditions provided by the Sun are very similar). Now, this passage time, which we imagine was carefully chosen, directly depends on the exact moment of the blast-off of the satellite launch vehicle, in this case Ariane 5 for Helios 2B. Such is the reason for the lift-off having to be timed to the exact second.

Ariane 5 (GS or generic launcher) blasting off today, 18 December, to place Helios 2B in orbit. This is 2009’s seventh mission for the European launch vehicle commercialised by Arianespace. Credit: Arianespace

Not just a spy
The CNES plays a primordial role in the Helios military observation programme as the DGA, French Ministry of Defence Procurement Agency, has put it in overall charge of the space segment. The main company responsible for making the satellite is EADS-Astrium whereas the high resolution optical part was carried out by Thales Alenia Space. According to official statements, this “eye” (visible and infrared ranges) can procure photographs with a resolution greater than 2.5 m. When we know that commercial Earth observation satellites regularly have a resolution of one meter, it is easy to imagine that Helios 2B will do better and “boost military reconnaissance” to repeat the citation at the beginning of this article.
The term “military reconnaissance” is better known to the general public in this context by the name “spy satellite”... There is no choice but to recognise however that the geopolitical upheavals of recent decades mean that a satellite such as Helios 2B is not just used for breaking enemy secrets. Obviously, the images gathered still have specifically military applications, but they also help manage humanitarian emergencies in which armies sometimes take part (detection of refugee movements, assessment of roads cut off by a natural disaster, etc.). The photographs acquired from space can also play a diplomatic role in preventing crises by confirming for example that such a country is indeed respecting its commitments by withdrawing its armed forces from a given zone. Moreover, perhaps the simple fact of knowing that an effective means of control from space exists pushes some nations to become more respectful of the agreements that they sign...

Published on 18 December 2009