Program: COSMO-Skymed
Italian remote sensing program operated by ASI (Italian Space Agency).
Four satellites planned. For civilian and military use (Italian Ministry of
Defense).
Part of the
Orfeo program.
In Dec 2004, ASI signed a contract worth EUR 900 million with Finmeccanica to
build the first 4 satellites. Went operational in 2008.
In Jun 2005, Italy exchanged access right to
Helios
with rights to
Cosmo-Skymed.
A second generation is planned built by Thales alenia Space and Telespazio from
2014, now 2019. Approx 2200 kg at launch. To be launched by
Soyuz
and
Vega
from Kourou. Two more satellites ordered in Dec 2020.
http://cosmo-skymed-ao.asi.it/