The largest Polish satellite, EagleEye, has established contact and sent its first photo. – It shows a small camera, whose task was to inspect the satellite walls – said Dr. Tomasz Barciński, head of the Laboratory of Mechatronics and Satellite Robotics at CBK PAN, on TVN24.
On Friday, the largest Polish satellite was launched from the Vandenberg base in California.. EagleEye, as the satellite is called, was launched into Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket.
– Emotions were very high, I had the pleasure and honor to participate in the rocket launch at the headquarters of Creotech Instruments SA, the satellite's designer. We watched the launch together with the engineers. There was a mood of joy, but slightly disturbed by anxiety, because you never know until the very end whether this object will work – said Dr. Tomasz Barciński, head of the Satellite Mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory of the CBK PAN, on TVN24. – Fortunately, it turned out very quickly that the satellite was working and talking to us – he added.
The first photo sent by satellite
The EagleEye satellite also sent its first photo. – Creotech placed the first photo on the X platform. It shows a small camera, whose task was to inspect the satellite's walls. It was not supposed to take a photo of the Earth, although the Earth was captured in this photo – said Barciński. He added that it was a technical photo. – The main purpose of this photo is to image the satellite. The photo was taken very quickly – explained Barciński.
The expert noted that the Polish satellite, which is rare, started up immediately and communication also occurred immediately. – It was expected that communication with the satellite would take up to 48 hours, but in the end it happened after less than an hour. This is a success – emphasized Barciński.
It takes only 90 minutes for a satellite to orbit the Earth
As Barciński said, the satellite operators establish contact with it using radio waves. – Each satellite has a radio station on board. It is thanks to it that contact is established with the device. The satellite orbits, it does not hang in one point. It only takes 90 minutes for it to circle the Earth – said Barciński.
Why is EagleEye so special?
– This is the first such large Polish satellite equipped with a telescope for observing the Earth, for taking pictures – said the expert. – It mainly photographs agricultural areas to support the work of farmers, to analyze what is happening on an ongoing basis – whether there is a drought or not, the condition of vegetation – explained the doctor. – This telescope placed on EagleEye is designed to achieve a resolution of one meter per pixel. This is quite a nice resolution, which is difficult to obtain.
Barciński added that it will take some time for high-resolution photos because the satellite is currently being fine-tuned, and only then will the telescope be launched.
Interview with Dr. Tomasz Barciński about the Polish satelliteTVN24
Main image source: Creotech Instruments SA/X