Based on initial successes, the Vietnamese VNREDSat-1 satellite launched on 7 May 2013 on a VEGA rocket, is efficiently meeting the initial demands for remote sensing images for observing natural resources, environment, and natural disasters. VNREDSat-1 is Vietnam's first Natural Resources, Environment and Disaster monitoring satellite, constituting a new development of space technology in Vietnam after the success of two telecommunications satellites.
The VNREDSat is an optical satellite capable of capturing images of any position in the world from its orbit. Two days after been launched from French Guiana, VNREDSat-1 started transmitting its first acquired images to ground stations for processing. Routinary tests on these received data and images revealed that the transmission system between the ground receiving stations and the satellite is initially good and stable.
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) informs that VNREDSat-1 is operating normally and that some of the processed data received from the satellite showing Hanoi, Melbourne and Rome can be visited in VAST webpage.
