SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday evening (Jan. 31) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT). The second-generation COSMO-SkyMed (COSMO-SkyMed Seconda Generazione - CSG) is a constellation financed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with funds allocated by the Italian Ministry of University and Research alongside the Italian Ministry of Defence. It will guarantee the operational continuity of SAR (Synthetic-Aperture Radar) Earth observation services currently provided by the four first-generation COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) satellites launched into orbit between 2007 and 2010 and still operational. Italy's second generation COSMO- SkyMed constellation of two satellites , aims at improving the quality of the imaging service, providing the end users with enhanced capabilities in terms of higher number of images and image quality (larger swath and finer spatial and radiometric resolution) with respect to the current COSMO-SkyMed constellation (CSK). 

For more information please visit: https://www.asi.it/en/2022/02/cosmo-skymed-second-generation-second-satellite-takes-flight/