Upgrade to Remote Sensing Ground Station

Since then, the ground station has been operational 24x7x365 receiving, processing, cataloging, and disseminating MODIS image products. Now, Vexcel has added support for the EROS-B high-resolution panchromatic optical satellite from Imagesat International and the SPOT-4 medium resolution multi-spectral optical satellite from Spot Image. All 4 satellites are now seamlessly integrated into the Apex Commander remote sensing data management system allowing FACh SAF to receive and process these missions automatically from a single consistent user interface.

One of the first MODIS images received at the new station by its 6.1m radome-enclosed X-band tracking antenna clearly depicted the early May 2008 eruption of the Chaitén volcano in southern Chile. One of the first SPOT-4 images received after the station upgrade depicted a long cloud free swath over north central Chile from the Bolivian border, across the Atacama desert, and down to Antofagasta. An EROS-B image captured by Imagesat after station construction in November 2008 showed the radome and SAF facility situated on the north end of the runway at the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.