France's Arianespace launches 12 satellites into space

Clyde Hughes
Mon, October 9, 2023

France's Arianespace launched a rocket Sunday night that delivered 12 satellites into space. Photo courtesy Arianespace

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The French-based Arianespace successfully launched a rocket with 12 satellites into space.

Arianespace's 100-foot-tall Vega rocket took off from Kourou, French Guiana on Sunday and deployed the satellites into space about one hour later in the rocket's first mission of 2023.

The European Space Agency said the package of satellites included an Earth-observing THEOS-2 satellite and a meteorological satellite Triton.

THEOS-2, an acronym for the Thailand Earth Observation System-2, is an observation satellite manufactured by Airbus for the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand. Officials said information from the satellite will be used to monitor water resources, weather and land use for planning and management.

The Triton, formerly known as FORMOSAT-7R, is a Taiwan Space Agency satellite that will collect signals that bounce off the sea surface to help scientists calculate wind field over our oceans.

Taiwanese officials said that information will be shared with Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, contributing to the forecast of typhoon intensity and their trajectory.

The rocket also released what the ESA called "10 smaller secondary satellites."

The ESA said the satellites were released in a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning they will fly over the same spot on Earth at the same time each day - following the sun.