Helios 2B

The Helios 2 system, which consisted of the Helios 2A and Helios 2B, was a French-developed military Earth observation satellite program. Financed at 90% by France, the development also involved minor participation from Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece. Helios 2A was launched on 18 December 2004 by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Helios 2B was launched five years later, on 18 December 2009, carried also by an Ariane 5. The two satellites are identical. They carry a Thales-built high-resolution visible and thermal infrared instrument with 35 cm resolution, and an Airbus-built medium-resolution instrument. The Helios 2 satellite bus is nearly identical to the platform built by EADS Astrium for the Spot 5 civil-commercial optical observation satellite. The Helios 2 was replaced by the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO), a French program of three military observation satellites.