\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH DATE: \<COLOUR 0> July 17, 1991
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH SITE: \<COLOUR 0> Kourou Space Centre, French Guiana
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH VEHICLE: \<COLOUR 0> Ariane 4
\<COLOUR 1> ORBIT: \<COLOUR 0> About 780 km
\<COLOUR 1> SIZE: \<COLOUR 0> 1.8 metres by 1.4 metres by 2.3 metres Solar array span 11.8 metres Radar antenna span 10 metres
\<COLOUR 1> WEIGHT: \<COLOUR 0> 2.4 tonnes
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> Europe
\<COLOUR 1> COMMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> The first European Space Agency remote-sensing, Earth- resources satellite; the main sensor is the active microwave instrument (AMI), which can return images and data on sea wind speeds and direction; it began to send back images of excellent quality (resolution 30 metres) on 27 July.