2024-02-16 20:35:16
The first satellite of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) was launched into space on December 1, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Barely two months later and we can already see its first images. The satellite has an infrared camera called Drago-2 that shows the quality of the observations that have been made. Another of the most surprising advances of Aliseo-1 (Advanced Land-Imaging Satellite for Infrared Observations) is the testing of the pointing of its laser optical communications module, it is the first Spanish satellite that has this technology.
ALISIO-1 is a satellite that serves to develop prevention and action plans against natural disasters. It allows the monitoring of fires and volcanoes, studies of desertification and the evolution of crops and floods, as well as fuel spills in oceans.
Inside it has two state-of-the-art instruments. On the one hand, DRAGO-2, the most compact infrared space camera that exists, due to its weight, volume and energy consumption. A camera developed entirely at IACTEC-Espacio. And on the other hand, ALISIO-1 is the first Spanish satellite that has an optical communications module using laser. Something that allows a higher speed of data transmission from space to Earth.
Telescopes that complement terrestrial observatories
The first images processed by the IACTEC-Espacio team are from the Chihuahua area, in Mexico. In them we can see, in false color, some growing areas and their different humidity levels. The quality and resolution of the images are easily noticeable when compared to images from previous days taken by SENTINEL-2, a fleet of several large, state-of-the-art satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The director of the IAC, Rafael Rebolo, assures that “after these first decades of the IAC, as an international astrophysics center with two of the best terrestrial observatories in the world, our gaze is directed towards a next step, which is to also have space telescopes that complement our capabilities from terrestrial observatories. The ALISIO-1 satellite, Rebolo highlights, is the demonstration that technically we can do it and that we are competitive, at lower costs than other competitors and with a high quality of results.”
Other processed images correspond to the islands of La Palma and El Hierro. In them you can clearly see how the extensive vegetation of the islands benefits from different levels of humidity, depending on multiple factors such as the terrain’s own orography and its orientation with respect to the trade winds.
This first Canarian satellite emits the first truly surprising results two and a half months after its launch. The advance is that information is launched between Space and Earth through a laser beam, which allows us to send and emit much more information than traditional methods.
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