Inmarsat is also entering a new field, the fixed satellite business ("fixed" refers to the customer, not the satellite) and will access very-small-aperture terminals (VSATs) of the type maintained by fixed satellite service purveyors like Intelsat.

FORBES: Down To Earth

It's a type of radar flown on a satellite.

NPR: Satellite Imagery Shows a Sinking New Orleans

The satellite images picked out the right type of afforested land, and topography, which, when combined with other data on soil types, rainfall, and temperature, produced a clear "Loa Loa map" of several African countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

BBC: Danger worms tracked from space

With all three vehicles, Arianespace, the company that runs Kourou, will now be able to offer satellite operators a ride for any type of spacecraft to all kinds of orbit - from the low, pole-crossing orbits used by Earth observation missions, to the high, geostationary locations favoured by big telecommunications platforms.

BBC: Vega rocket set for maiden voyage

One problem was that the rocket used as a booster (a type known as Pegasus, that is designed to be used as a satellite launcher) is usually dropped from its launch aircraft at an altitude of 12, 200 metres.

ECONOMIST: Hypersonic aviation

The satellite, known as OCO-2, is being prepared for launch in February 2013 aboard the same type of Taurus XL rocket used with Glory.

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