# Pleiades-1A
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: cnes
- **actual launch**: 2011-12-17
- **planned decommission**: 2028-12-31
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit, 694 km, 10:15 descending local solar time
- **swath km**: 20
- **revisit days**: 26
- **paired revisit days**: 1
- **tasking supported**: true
- **archive depth years**: 14
- **current geographic priority**: Global very-high-resolution civil, commercial, and defence imaging.
- **launch vehicle**: arianespace-soyuz
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: cnes
- **attributes**: {"operator":"cnes","actual_launch":"2011-12-17","planned_decommission":"2028-12-31","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit, 694 km, 10:15 descending local solar time","swath_km":20,"revisit_days":26,"paired_revisit_days":1,"tasking_supported":true,"archive_depth_years":14,"current_geographic_priority":"Global very-high-resolution civil, commercial, and defence imaging.","launch_vehicle":"arianespace-soyuz"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Pleiades-1A (Pleiades-HR 1A) is a French very-high-resolution optical imaging satellite operated by CNES, launched on 17 December 2011 into a sun-synchronous orbit at 694 km with a 10:15 descending local solar time.[^cnes-pleiades][^wmo-pleiades-1a] The satellite carries the Pleiades HiRI imager, which delivers 0.5 m panchromatic and 2 m multispectral products across a 20 km swath.[^pleiades-user-guide] Operating in a two-satellite constellation with Pleiades-1B, the pair achieves a one-day revisit interval for tasked targets; the single-satellite orbital repeat is 26 days. Tasking is supported with a 14-year archive available as of 2026.[^cnes-pleiades][^ceos-pleiades-1a] CNES holds the mission operator role; Airbus Defence and Space assumed commercial distribution responsibilities approximately six months after launch.[^airbus-pleiades-10-years] Applications include global very-high-resolution mapping, civil and defence imaging, disaster response, and urban and infrastructure monitoring. CNES and WMO OSCAR record planned decommissioning around end of 2028.[^cnes-pleiades][^wmo-pleiades-1a]

## Compositional position
- Pleiades-1A --[mission_payloads]--> pleiades-hiri (products)
- Pleiades-1A --[related-topic]--> disaster-damage-assessment (topics)
- Pleiades-1A --[related-topic]--> urban-change (topics)
- Pleiades-1A --[related-topic]--> land-cover-change (topics)
- Pleiades-1A --[related-topic]--> transport-infrastructure (topics)

## Sources
- [cnes-pleiades] | Pleiades project page, CNES | https://cnes.fr/en/projects/pleiades | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-pleiades-1a] | Satellite: Pleiades-1A, WMO OSCAR/Space | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/pleiades_1a | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [pleiades-user-guide] | Pleiades Imagery User Guide, Airbus Defence and Space | https://content.satimagingcorp.com/media/pdf/User_Guide_Pleiades.pdf | tier=operator-datasheet | accessed=2026-06-14
- [airbus-pleiades-10-years] | Pleiades: 10 years of successful satellite images, Airbus | https://space-solutions.airbus.com/resources/news/various/airbus-pleiades-10-years-of-successful-satellite-images/ | tier=operator-press | accessed=2026-06-14
- [ceos-pleiades-1a] | Pleiades 1A mission summary, CEOS database | https://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionsummary.aspx?missionID=478 | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/pleiades-1a
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)