Ecuador NEE-02 Krysor: Second nano-satellite launched

"Krysaor," like its predecessor, is equipped with a video camera, but with a higher resolution, more advanced solar panels, and a high-speed digital broadcasting system that "can transmit data a thousand times faster" than Pegaso, Nader said.

Ecuador's Civilian Space Agency (EXA) successfully launched the second nano-satellite into space early Thursday, the government-run news agency Andes reported.

The "Krysaor" satellite was launched aboard a Russian-built Dnepr RS-20B rocket that blasted off from the Dombarovsky launch site in Russia's southeastern Orenburg region.

"Krysaor has been put into orbit. The mission is successful," EXA's director Ronnie Nader was quoted as saying.

Experts at the EXA, led by Nader, monitored the launch from a ground control station in Guayaquil in southwestern Ecuador.

In April, the South American country launched its first nano- satellite "Pegaso," a 10x10 centimeter cube weighing 2.1 kilograms, to broadcast images in real time for educational purposes.

A month later, however, "Pegaso" collided with debris from an old Russian rocket, and the EXA announced in September that the device had vanished.

"Krysaor," like its predecessor, is equipped with a video camera, but with a higher resolution, more advanced solar panels, and a high-speed digital broadcasting system that "can transmit data a thousand times faster" than Pegaso, Nader said.

China helps Ecuador launch its first satellite into space

Ecuador launched its first satellite into space from China Friday morning, in a moment broadcast live on radio and television back home in Ecuador.

The "Pegaso" (Pegasus) nano-satellite, designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket at 0413 GMT from the Jiuquan station in northern China.

Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso will beam live video images back to Earth from an onboard camera.

"Welcome to the heavens, Pegaso. Welcome to space Ecuador. The mission is a success," said Ronnie Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut, who runs Ecuador's civilian space agency.

The Ecuadoran Space Agency plans a second satellite launch in July.