Vietnam Selects Belgium’s Spacebel to Build Second Monitoring Satellite
By Jeffrey Hill | August 1, 2011
[Satellite TODAY 08-01-11] The Vietnamese government has authorized the construction of its second Earth observation microsatellite VnRedSat-1B and has selected Belgian space systems company Spacebel as its prime contractor.
Government officials confirmed July 29 that it concluded negotiations with Spacebel and that the contract will be presented and signed in March 2012. Spacebel will lead a consortium of Belgian subcontractors to build and deliver VnRedSat-1B in time for a planned launch in 2016.
VnRedSat-1B will be combined Vietnam’s first remote sensing microsatellite VnRedSat-1A to provide monitoring of the environment in South-East Asia. The VnRedSat-1A multi-spectral is currently under construction by EADS Astrium, for a planned launch in 2013 or 2014.
Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.