Airbus Publishes First Detailed Images from Pléiades Neo 3 Satellite

Airbus has published the first collection of sharp images at 30cm native resolution from the Pléiades Neo 3 satellite, which was recently launched and secured in orbit.

The successful acquisitions and delivery of these first images are the start of a new era for both commercial and government geospatial applications requiring a high level of accuracy and the ability to see fine details.

In the one the pictured on this page, it is easy to count each and every limestone block of the Giza Pyramids, and even the number of people visiting.

In others, the multi-layered construction of Castel Sant'Angelo across the years can also be seen in detail, whilst urban areas and modern architecture, and their comprehensive diversity, are clearly visible in the images over Shanghai, Dubai and Washington DC.

The already very sharp images were acquired before full radiometric and system calibrations and the quality is expected to improve over the next few months.

The Pléiades Neo constellation will comprise of four identical and very agile satellites, offering reactive tasking and intraday revisit of any point on Earth. Entirely funded, designed, manufactured, owned and operated by Airbus, each satellite will add half a million km² per day at 30cm native resolution.

The next milestone of the Pléiades Neo programme is the launch of Pléiades Neo 4, which is already at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. It is expected to launch in summer 2021, followed by the launch of Pléiades Neo 5 and 6, in 2022.

Imagery from Pléiades Neo 3 is scheduled to become commercially available in Q3 2021, after calibration has been completed.

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