The PSLV-C29 heat shield closed with six satellites integrated to the launch vehicle. Photo: ISRO

[Via Satellite 12-16-2015] TeLEOS 1, the first Singapore-produced commercial satellite, launched Dec. 16 aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) into a 550 km Near Equatorial Orbit (NEqO). Produced by Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics), the electronics arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering), the 400 kg satellite launched along with five additional small satellite secondary payloads.

TeLEOS 1 has a mean revisit time of 12 to 16 hours and its coverage of the equatorial belt includes many major shipping routes as well as disaster prone and forest fire regions. ST Electronics expects the satellite will contribute to high-response applications in maritime security and safety, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and environmental activity verification with its optical payload.

“The successful launch of the TeLEOS 1 satellite represents a major step forward for the Singapore space industry,” said Lee Fook Sun, deputy CEO and president of the defense business at ST Engineering and president of ST Electronics. “It marks the completion of a very intensive and challenging phase in which we have not only designed and built this highly advanced satellite but successfully developed and built up a comprehensive set of indigenous facilities and infrastructure and raised a team of highly dedicated engineers who will now have every confidence to go forward and build even more advanced satellites.”