French Argos-4 Instrument to fly on India’s Oceansat-3 in January 2020
France’s Argos, a global satellite-based data collection and location system dedicated to studying and preserving the environment, is set to fly in January 2020 on India’s Oceansat-3 satellite, which will serve marine biology and ocean-observing and monitoring applications.
This is the first fourth-generation Argos instrument, capable of measuring variations in ocean temperature, currents and salinity, monitoring volcanic activity, tracking ice cover and wildlife migration, and supporting maritime transport management.
Argos was created in 1978 by the CNES and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); it is today operated by CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellite), a subsidiary of CNES. Since Argos entered service, three generations of instruments have succeeded one another. Eumetsat and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) joined the programme in 1997 and 2007 respectively.
The Argos system is built around radio-transmitters whose signals are received by dedicated instruments flying on Earth-orbiting satellites. These signals are recorded and then downlinked to receiving stations and data centres for processing.
Delivery of the payload module is scheduled this June. CNES is system architect and overseeing development of the ground and space components, in partnership with a consortium of Toulouse-based SMEs — Mecano ID, Soterem, Alten SO, Nexio Steel, Scalian and NEXEYA — federated under the NewSpace Factory banner. In its role nurturing the space SME industrial base, CNES is giving close support to these firms to help them hone their skills. The instruments are being supplied by Thales Airborne Systems. Argos4’s objective is to assure continuity of the Argos2 and Argos3 missions while offering better performance and capacity, thanks chiefly to a wider range of frequencies.
Alongside this fourth generation of instruments, CNES is investing in the future to develop the Argos-Neo demonstrator, a miniaturised Argos4 instrument built with commercial-off-the-shelf telecommunications macro-components. Argos-Neo will fly on the ANGELS nano-satellite scheduled to launch at the end of this year.
