THEOS (satellite)
Thai Earth observation satellite launched in 2008
THEOS, also known as Thaichote, is an Earth observation mission of Thailand, developed at EADS Astrium SAS, Toulouse, France. In July 2004, EADS Astrium SAS signed a contract for delivery of THEOS with GISTDA (Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency) of Bangkok, Thailand. GISTDA is Thailand's leading national organization (i.e., space agency) in the field of space activities and applications. The Thai Ministry of Science and Technology funds the program.
THEOS was launched from Dombarovskiy at 06:37 UTC on 1 October 2008, by a Dnepr rocket. The satellite was initially planned for a 2007 launch using the space vehicle Rokot of Eurockot Launch Services . The contract was however canceled when Eurockot faced a parts shortage.
On 24 March 2014, THEOS captured images showing some 300 objects in close proximity to the suspected crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in the Indian Ocean. The discovery was reported by GISTDA on 27 March 2014. The objects have not yet been identified as debris.
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This entry incorporates text from “THEOS (satellite)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.