'Bus-sized' Satellite About to Blast Off

Said to be the size of a London double-decker bus-the standard unit of engineering measurement so beloved by the British press-Europe's largest satellite will be rocketed into orbit by an Ariane V launcher from French Guiana next week, says UK science minister Lord Sainsbury. The environmental monitoring satellite, dubbed Envisat, weighs eight tons and is designed for a five-year life orbiting the globe every 100 minutes gathering data on such topics as global warming and ozone depletion, from 500 miles above the Earth.

More than 100 companies from 14 counties were involved in the 2.3 billion euro ($2 billion) project, led by Britain's Astrium, a joint venture between EADS and BAE Systems.

Stressing the one-shot status of Envirsat and continuing the London bus analogy, European Space Agency earth observation boss Stephen Briggs said that, unfortunately, there would not be another one along just behind it.

Envirsat would only be used for peaceful purposes but data it gathered would be available to NATO and the Western European Union to support humanitarian aid and refugee relief programs, Briggs said.

By Bob Rodwell