The SSOT Earth observation program comprises a satellite and an operational ground segment based in Santiago, Chile. Astrium also trained the 20 Chilean engineers operating the spacecraft at the Astrium facility where the system and satellite were developed and built.

   Astrium said conditions for the handover of the satellite, FASat Charlie, were met in full within three months of its launch.

   “This is a defining moment in Astrium’s long collaboration with Chile, which began in 2000. Far from marking its culmination, it is a stage in what we hope will become a wider and more intense partnership,” Astrium CEO Francois Auque said in a statement. “We are keen to continue working with the Chilean authorities and, beyond that, with the authorities of other countries in the region to help them identify the space solutions that are best suited to their needs.”