Corporate | 3 July 2007 07:20
OHB Technology AG / Miscellaneous
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory
AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Second SAR-Lupe satellite also successfully launched
Reconnaissance system available to the German Armed Forces as of the autumn
Bremen/Plesetsk, July 3, 2007. The second satellite in the SAR-Lupe system
has been placed successfully in orbit. The Russian Cosmos 3M launch vehicle
lifted off last night from the Russian Plesetsk space center, south of
Archangelsk, on schedule at 21:38:41 hours CEST. Roughly half an hour
later, it released the radar satellite into its low-earth orbit at an
altitude of roughly 500 km.
The first sign of life from the satellite was picked up by the ground
station Kerguelen in the Southern Indian Ocean at 22:41 hours, with direct
contact established between the control center and the satellite as planned
92 min. after launch. Preliminary testing indicates that SAR-Lupe 2 is
working perfectly in its orbit. Accordingly, work commenced last night on
putting the satellite in operation. In a preliminary highlight, the antenna
boom was deployed.
Satellite control is currently in the hands of the German Space Agency DLR
in Oberpfaffenhofen. The ground station of the German Armed Forces in
Gelsdorf is tracking the satellite at the same time and will assume
operative responsibility for it at the end of July, at which point in time
it will start collecting SAR radar images.
The German Armed Forces are already able to use the system. With the second
launch and ensuing ramp-up of the satellite, the German Federal Armed
Forces will have an operational reconnaissance system as of autumn 2007.
The first SAR-Lupe satellite has been in orbit since December 2006. It is
supplying superb high-resolution images and is operating very successfully
and reliably.
The remaining three satellites will be launched in intervals of around four
months, with the entire system to be completed in 2008.
Background
SAR-Lupe system
OHB-System, an OHB Technology Company, is the prime contractor for
SAR-Lupe, Germany’s first
satellite-based radar reconnaissance system. It comprises five satellites
and a corresponding ground segment for controlling the satellites and
receiving, processing and evaluating image data. The system works day and
night regardless of the weather and supplies immediate and highly detailed
radar images of virtually any area of the earth.
COSMOS 3M launch vehicle
OHB-System AG has been working very successfully with Russian space travel
company POLYOT, Omsk, since the beginning of the nineties. Developed by
POLYOT back in the sixties, the COSMOS launch vehicles have proven
themselves in over 770 missions. With a success rate of over 97%, it is one
of the world’s most reliable launch systems. The COSMOS launch vehicle is
ideal for transporting small satellites to low-orbit positions.
SAR-Lupe a part of the European Reconnaissance System
SAR-Lupe will be forming part of the European Reconnaissance System. Under
the ESGA project (German acronym for 'Europeanization of Satellite-Based
Reconnaissance'), OHB-System is creating the technical basis for allowing
France to use the German SAR-Lupe radar system. In return, Germany will be
able to access the French optical HELIOS II system.
Images can also be downloaded from the News section of the web site at
www.ohb-system.de.
Contact:
OHB Technology AG
Michael Vér, Investor Relations
Karl-Ferdinand-Braun-Str. 8
28359 Bremen / Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)421 2020-8
Fax: +49 (0)421 2020-613
Internet: http://www.ohb-technology.de
E-Mail: ir@ohb-technology.de
DGAP 03.07.2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Language: English
Issuer: OHB Technology AG
Karl-Ferdinand-Braun-Str. 8
28359 Bremen Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)421 2020 8
Fax: +49 (0)421 2020 613
E-mail: ir@ohb-technology.de
Internet: www.ohb-technology.de
ISIN: DE0005936124
WKN: 593612
Indices:
Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin-Bremen, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
---------------------------------------------------------------------------