The Helios 2 system, which consists of the Helios 2A and Helios 2B, is a French-developed military Earth observation satellite program.[1] Financed at 90% by France, the development also involved minor participation from Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece.[2] Helios 2A was launched on 18 December 2004 by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.[3]
Helios 2B was launched five years later, on 18 December 2009, carried also by an Ariane 5. The two satellites are identical.[4] They carry a Thales-built high-resolution visible and thermal infrared instrument with 35 cm resolution,[5] and an Airbus-built medium-resolution instrument.[6] The Helios 2 satellite bus is nearly identical to the platform built by EADS Astrium for the Spot 5 civil-commercial optical observation satellite.[7]
The Helios 2 will be replaced by the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO), a new French program of three military observation satellites. The first satellite (CSO-1) was launched on 15 December 2018, the second (CSO-2) on 29 December 2020, with the final launch (CSO-3) being scheduled for 2022.[8]
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