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A record release of 33 CubeSats from the International Space Station ended Friday after a methodical series of deployments of miniature Earth imaging satellites for San Francisco-based Planet Labs Inc.

The CubeSat constellation, released in pairs over a 17-day period, included 28 satellites for Planet Labs and five spacecraft for private engineering research firms and institutions in Lithuania and Peru.

The deployments began Feb. 11 as the CubeSats sprang out of pods mounted on the end of the space station’s Japanese robotic arm.

The CubeSats were launched to the orbiting complex in January inside an Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus cargo craft. Astronauts transferred the payloads, sealed inside more than a dozen NanoRacks deployers, to the space station’s Kibo laboratory and through an airlock to the vacuum of space.

NanoRacks LLC, a Houston-based company providing commercial research opportunities on the space station, sponsored the CubeSat deployments for Planet Labs and other customers. Spaceflight Inc., a firm specializing in launch services for small satellites, partnered with NanoRacks to provide the CubeSat launch opportunities.

“This is the beginning of a new era in space commerce,” said Jeff Manber, NanoRacks CEO, in a press release. “We’re helping our customers get a two year head start in space. They don’t have to wait around for a dedicated launch to space but can instead catch the next rocket to space station. We want to thank NASA and JAXA for being wonderful partners, as well as Spaceflight Inc., for their help with customers. Without these organizations, this couldn’t have happened.”

The 28 CubeSats for Planet Labs will return imagery of Earth with a resolution between 3 and 5 meters, or between 10 and 16 feet. Planet Labs constructed the satellites, each about the size of a loaf of bread, at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

The Planet Labs constellation, known as Flock 1, will monitor natural disasters, deforestation, agricultural yields and other environmental changes. The company says the satellites will allow scientists and the public to track changes to Earth’s surface at an unprecedented frequency.

It is the largest fleet Earth observation satellites ever launched.

Because the satellites were deployed from the International Space Station, the Flock 1 constellation is limited to observing Earth between 52 degrees of the equator.

The company was founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists and venture capital investors.

Officials plan to upload imagery from the Flock 1 satellites for free access by commercial and humanitarian users.

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VANCOUVER, April 3, 2014 /CNW/ – UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR) (“UrtheCast” or the “Company”) is extremely pleased to announce its first release of Earth imagery, captured by UrtheCast’s medium-resolution camera (MRC) onboard the International Space Station (ISS).


“This is a pivotal moment for the company and for everyone who’s been a part of the vision that we set in motion in 2010,” stated UrtheCast Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Larson. “Our team has been working extremely hard to make certain that we reach this goal of democratizing a very powerful perspective on the world. We couldn’t be more grateful to the incredibly determined engineering teams at UrtheCast, RSC Energia, and Rutherford Appleton Laboratories.”

Captured on March 28, 2014, at 1pm GMT, this image is centered around the city of Moneague, Jamaica, and has a 6-meter GSD (Ground Sampling Distance). The photo is approximately 3200 × 8000 pixels, and covers approximately 300 square kilometers. The MRC is a multispectral, nadir-pointing imager that captures 6-meter class, 50-km wide swaths of still imagery, which will be made commercially available on the UrtheCast platform. While the images will be made available on an individual basis, they will also be processed and constantly streamed to the UrtheCast platform. This will be realized on the interactive platform as a near realtime flyover view of the planet directly below the ISS as it orbits the globe 16 times every day.

In preparation for the unveiling of its full color, Ultra HD Earth video from space, UrtheCast remains focused on the commissioning and calibration of its cameras, in addition to ground system testing and the continuation of its business plan.

To view additional UrtheCast images as they are released, visit www.urthecast.com/firstlight.

[Via Satellite 03-04-2014] Small satellite trends are shifting away from one-time stints and moving toward more regular use in a constellation setting. Sierra Nevada Corporation Vice President of Business Development John Roth told Via Satellite that the company has noticed an increase in the desire to mass produce low-weight satellites. While currently working on Orbcomm’s new constellation of communications satellites (OG2), several potential customers have come to the company with ideas about constellations.


“We’ve probably had a half a dozen companies in the last year or two come to us with ideas about small satellite constellations that they would like to do,” said Roth. “We have non-disclosures so I can’t tell you who the companies are, but most of them are either commercial startups that have some funding already or are working with us to try to get funding from investors to get their concepts off the ground.”

According to Roth, many of these companies were inspired by the strategy Skybox Imaging used, where a small number of satellites are used for technology demonstration purposes in order to draw the attention of investors. Then, after obtaining enough capital, they can quickly move into a production phase.

“We are seeing a number of companies with that same model coming to us and asking us to help support concepts and put together some budgets that they can take to the investor community,” said Roth. “I would think in the next few years you are going to see other commercial companies emerging in the small satellite range.”

The purposes of these satellites vary and are designed to target different niche applications. Some are dedicated to Earth observation missions, others are looking into bands other than electro-optic, while others, such as the joint Taiwan-U.S. Formosat constellation, are looking at weather prediction and other meteorological purposes. The markets represented cover a range of addressable issues.

“There is a trend toward miniaturization in LEO for satellite applications, said Stéphane Gounari, senior analyst at NSR. “[And] not just CubeSats, it is for the whole range. Cube/NanoSats are the extreme … [but] there is a reason why for some applications you have to use big satellites, because you cannot fulfill certain requirements with small satellites.”

Some satellite-enabled services require larger satellites, which are not following the trend toward smaller sizes. Iridium Next satellites, for example, need to have a very strong Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) to connect with handsets, which brings about greater power requirements and drive up the size. According to Gounari, communication satellites are largely missing this miniaturization trend.

“Communications satellites tend to grow in mass,” he explained. “Orbcomm’s satellites are still small but the new constellation is way bigger than the first one (155kg from 45kg). Iridium, Globalstar and O3b start from a higher point but are following the same trend. In that sense, small satellites are used for communications purposes, but the success of the application drives them toward higher mass.”

Orbcomm’s small communication satellites have grown in size, but they are still small, which makes them a unique case. The defining change for small satellites remains that they are serving long-term purposes today, and are expected to play a permanent role going forward. Satellites are polarizing to become either larger by necessity or smaller by opportunity. Based on factors such as launch availability, personnel and financing, the preference toward small satellites has become very noticeable on a global scale.

“Worldwide, there is huge interest in small satellites,” said Roth. “Most countries don’t start out with a U.S.-sized budget for multi-thousand kilogram satellites. Interested countries are not just looking for a first-satellite foothold, they’re looking for space capabilities over the long-term but in affordable programs.”“In terms of market rate … internationally there is a growing interest in small satellites, though there remains a strong interest in the U.S.,” added Gounari.

For now, Sierra Nevada Corp. remains focused on its current contract for 18 satellites with Orbcomm. The first six are scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in April, with the remaining 12 going up on a second launch later in the year. Benefits like the ability to rapidly install an entire constellation continue to drive satellite operators to make smaller spacecraft when possible. According to Roth, this is a desire satellite manufacturers should be pay a healthy amount of attention.

“I really see growth all the way from CubeSats up to 500 kg size,” he said. “That’s going to be an expanding market for a while.”

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(4 March 2014) BlackBridge has taken over the operations of the RapidEye Science Archive pursuant to an agreement with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The project is funded by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). RESA was initially operated by DLR’s Remote Sensing Data Center, aiming at supporting scientific research projects within Germany by providing RapidEye imagery free of charge. Since 2009, the RESA program has allowed Germany-based scientists to benefit from BlackBridge’s RapidEye archive, which currently holds more than 5 billion km2 of five-meter imagery.

The complete RESA data archive currently consists of approximately 20 million km2 of RapidEye imagery and is available to all registered RESA users through a cloud-based solution developed by BlackBridge.

BlackBridge’s project manager, Dr. Rene Griesbach strongly believes in the benefits of the RESA program: “This is the continuation of a successful DLR program that has proved to be very beneficial for the German remote sensing community. Now we are really pleased to announce that BlackBridge will continue supporting the RESA program by providing RapidEye imagery to the scientific community as in the past, as well as by running the operations.”

The RESA annual user workshop will take place March 5-6, 2014 at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bonn.

About BlackBridge

BlackBridge is focused on providing end to end solutions across the geospatial value chain. This includes satellite operations, data center and geocloud solutions, and worldwide satellite imagery distribution through over 100 BlackBridge partners, combined with the creation of value added products and services.

(source: BlackBridge)

(3 March 2014) MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) announced today that it has received an order to provide Radarsat-2 information to the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) as part of EMSA’s CleanSeaNet program.

This order is the first issued under a four-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement MDA has with EMSA. The IDIQ has a ceiling of CA$7.5 million.

MDA will provide EMSA with Radarsat-2 information covering all European sea areas, for use in detecting possible oil spills on the sea surface, and providing information for maritime surveillance projects, such as vessel detection.

The Radarsat-2 satellite has global high-resolution surveillance capabilities that include a large collection capacity and high accuracy. The satellite acquires data regardless of light or weather condition, provides frequent re-visit imaging options, and is supported by ground receiving stations that provide near real-time information delivery services. This versatility makes Radarsat-2 a reliable source of information in multi-faceted intelligence surveying and monitoring programs.

About MDA

MDA is a global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organizations worldwide.

MDA’s business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential. In addition, the Company conducts a significant amount of advanced technology development.

MDA’s well-established global customer base is served by more than 4,800 employees operating from 11 offices located in the United States, Canada, and internationally.

(source: MDA) and Spacenewsfeed

(10 March 2014) On 5-7 March, Eumetsat hosted the first meeting of the joint Working Group on Climate of the Committee for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the Coordination Group for meteorological Satellites (CGMS).

The goals of this working group are to establish an inventory of existing records of Essential Climate Variables derived from observations from space, to plan the production of more Climate Data Records and to optimise planning of future satellites to expand records and avoid data gaps.

This meeting followed a workshop of the SCOPE-CM (Sustained, Co-Ordinated Processing of Environmental Satellite Data for Climate Monitoring) international initiative supported by the World Meteorological Organisation and a network of operators of environmental satellite systems, where work plans for cooperative Climate Data Record generation projects were established.

Eumetsat’s climate monitoring activities encompass re-calibration and inter-satellite calibration, production of homogeneous series of basic observations by reprocessing and downstream production of Climate Data Records for Essential Climate Variables. The activities involve the distributed network of Satellite Application Facilities, in particular the Climate Monitoring SAF led by DWD, and contributions to selected cooperative projects with international partners.

On 10-12 March, Eumetsat will support a workshop in Grainau, Germany, gathering the users of its Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility, led by the Deutsche Wetterdienst, to discuss the usage and development of satellite-based climate monitoring products and services in response to user needs.

The engagement in global climate services in 2014 will culminate in the Climate Symposium that Eumetsat is organising with the World Climate Research Programme in Darmstadt on 13-17 October. Bringing together international climate scientists, experts from space agencies as well as high-level representatives from other stakeholders, the symposium will discuss how satellite operators could jointly address the scientific challenges identified in the 5th IPCC Assessment Report.

About Eumetsat

The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites is an intergovernmental organisation based in Darmstadt, Germany, currently with 29 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom) and two Cooperating States (Bulgaria and Serbia).

Eumetsat operates the geostationary satellites Meteosat-8, -9 and -10 over Europe and Africa, and Meteosat-7 over the Indian Ocean.

Eumetsat also operates two Metop polar-orbiting satellites as part of the Initial Joint Polar System (IJPS) shared with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Metop-B polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, launched on 17 September 2012, became prime operational satellite on 24 April 2013. It replaced Metop-A, the first European polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, which was launched in October 2006. Metop-A will continue operations as long as its available capacities bring benefits to users.

The Jason-2 ocean altimetry satellite, launched on 20 June 2008 and exploited jointly with NOAA, NASA and CNES, added monitoring of sea state, ocean currents and sea level change to the Eumetsat product portfolio.

The data and products from Eumetsat’s satellites are vital to weather forecasting and make a significant contribution to the monitoring of environment and the global climate.

(source: Eumetsat) and spacenewsfeed

(Feb 2014) The World Bank would launch a US$1bn fund in July 2014 to map mineral resources of Africa, using satellites and airborne surveys, according to a report

The bank has reportedly committed US$200mn to the five-year fund, and has been meeting with mining companies and governments from sub-Saharan Africa, Reuters reported.

Paulo de Sa, senior manager, World Bank mining unit, said, “Times are tough, so the mining companies are counting their pennies, but there is a lot of interest because it is exactly when commodity prices are low and the companies are reducing their investment budgets. Having the information to guide their priorities right now is valuable.”

The mapping fund hopes to unearth up to US$1 trillion worth of new mineral resources on the continent.

De Sa met with 10 mining companies, including Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines. Initially targeting southern and eastern Africa, the fund would aim to collate existing data onto a single, digital platform that would be accessible to the public, the report added.

Besides helping to guide exploration investment, African governments could reportedly benefit by being able to negotiate better deals when handing concessions to mining companies.

“If they know what they have in their territory, they are in a better position to fine-tune and calibrate the fiscal regime and mining laws,” he added.

The bank, which has received expressions of interest from Malawi and Mozambique to assist with geological mapping, also wants to identify copper prospectivity in Zambia, Africa’s top producer of the metal.

Source

(13 March 2014) The European Commission welcomed today’s vote of the European Parliament on the Copernicus Regulation.

Copernicus, the EU’s Earth Observation Programme, will ensure the regular observation and monitoring of Earth sub-systems, the atmosphere, oceans, and continental surfaces, and will provide reliable, validated and guaranteed information in support of a broad range of environmental and security applications and decisions. Today’s vote marks a major milestone for Copernicus. Indeed, the adoption of the Regulation paves the way for the continuous development of the programme. This text, which still needs to be adopted by the Council, defines Copernicus objectives, governance and funding (some € 4.3 billion euros) for the period 2014-2020.

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship said: “Space is a priority for the Union; the budget for both European flagship space programmes, Copernicus and Galileo, for the next seven years is secured. Almost €12 billion will be invested in space technologies. It is my priority to make sure that this budget will multiply the benefits that European citizens will reap from our space programmes.”

Launch of first Copernicus satellite in April

The Copernicus programme is entering the operational phase after years of preparation. The next step is the launch of the first Copernicus satellite, Sentinel-1, beginning of April from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guyana.

Copernicus will provide Earth observation data

Copernicus will support the vital tasks of monitoring our environment and security by providing Earth observation data. The data provided by this satellite will enable considerable progress in improving maritime security, climate change monitoring and providing support in emergency and crisis situations.

Copernicus opens up business opportunities

Copernicus will also help Europe’s enterprises creating new jobs and business opportunities, namely services for environmental data production and dissemination, as well as the space industry. Indirectly, a variety of other economic segments will see the advantages of accurate and reliable earth observation data, such as transport, oil and gas, insurance and agriculture.

Studies show that Copernicus could generate a financial benefit of some € 30 billion and create around 50.000 jobs in Europe by 2030. Moreover, the open dissemination regime for Copernicus data and service information will help citizens, businesses, researchers and policy makers to integrate an environmental dimension into all their activities and decision-making procedures.

Space activities foster already today the development of a market for satellite-enabled products and services, providing the highly qualified jobs which our industry will need in order to thrive now and in the future.

For more information

[SatNews] The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) has signed a contract with Satrec Initiative, a provider of integrated and customized solutions for Earth observation missions, for global promotion and distribution of Dubai Sat-2’s products and services to customers worldwide.

The agreement further strengthens the existing cooperation between the two parties. Both organizations previously collaborated in the Dubai Sat-1 and Dubai Sat-2 projects. Currently, they are working on the first Arab-made satellite, the Khalifa Sat, which will be launched into outer space by 2017. Emirati engineers are involved in the planning and designing of the Khalifa Sat. The agreement was signed by H.E. Yousuf Al Shaibani, Director General, Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology and Dong-Sung Park, Satrec’s General Manager. Senior managers and officials from both sides were present to witness the signing.

EIAST was established by the Dubai Government in 2006 with the goal of promoting a culture of advanced scientific research and technology innovation in Dubai and the UAE, and enhancing technology innovation and scientific skills among UAE Nationals. It is mainly involved in outer space research and development, satellite manufacturing and systems development, space imaging, and ground station services and support for other satellites.

EIAST and ““Satnews”:http://www.satnews.com/story.php?number=97682742&menu=1

To allow for a systematic assessment of freshwater ecosystems and riverine habitats, spatial information on extent, distribution and land cover and land use characteristics of riparian zones is required.

In order to meet this requirement, the local component of the Copernicus land monitoring service should provide more detailed information over the riparian zones, using very high resolution (VHR) imagery collected between 2011/13 in combination with other available datasets (high resolution (HR) and medium resolution (MR) images).

Through a call for tender published today, the European Environment Agency plans to establish a framework contract for the provision of the three following data layers:

  • The production of VHR LC/LU on a riparian buffer zone along selected rivers;
  • A VHR delineation of riparian zones, and
  • A VHR green linear elements data layer.

Furthermore, the framework contract should include the provision of consultancy services ancillary to the production of the 3 data layers specified above.

View Call notice on Tender Electronic Daily…
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