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Sep 15, 2010: KSPT MEOS™ Control and MEOS™ Connect to Kongsberg Satellite Services for Antarctica

Kongsberg Spacetec has signed a contract with Kongsberg Satellite Services to deliver a MEOS™ Control and a MEOS™ Connect system to support operations of a new KSATs antenna system at Troll in Antarctica. The MEOS™ Connect system will be used in Tromsø to provide common operations of the KSAT Troll antennas.

MEOS™ Control is Kongsberg Spacetec’s product for Ground Station monitoring and control. A Ground Station often consists of a number of specialized units, e.g. demodulators, modulators, antenna control units (ACU), converters, switch matrices, etc. Instead of handling these units as stand alone units, MEOS™ Control integrates them into one overall system, with a common GUI and a common API for remote operations.

MEOS™ Connect is a basic building block for implementing efficient Monitoring & Control infrastructures in distributed Ground Station environments

Sep 09, 2010: KSPT MEOS™ Control to Kongsberg Satellite Services for Svalbard

Kongsberg Spacetec has signed a contract with Kongsberg Satellite Services to deliver a MEOS™ Control system to support operations of a new antenna system on Svalbard..

MEOS™ Control is Kongsberg Spacetec’s product for Ground Station monitoring and control. A Ground Station often consists of a number of specialized units, e.g. demodulators, modulators, antenna control units (ACU), converters, switch matrices, etc. Instead of handling these units as stand alone units, MEOS™ Control integrates them into one overall system, with a common GUI and a common API for remote operations.

Aug 24, 2010: KSPT MEOS™ Polar Met and MEOS™ Capture HRDFEP system to CLS, France

Kongsberg Spacetec has signed a contract with CLS – Collecte LocalisationSatellite, Toulouse France, for upgrades to the CLS direct reception ground station network. The systems under contract are the MEOS™ Polar Met and MEOS™ Capture HRDFEP (High Rate Demodulator & Front End Processor) products configured for direct reception from the SARAL, NOAA and Metop satellites.

The MEOS™ Polar ground station system is Kongsberg Spacetec’s multi-mission, flexible and modular turnkey system for acquisition, archiving, processing, analysis and distribution of meteorological data.

MEOS™ Data Capture HRDFEP is a high performance data receiver, acquisition and telemetry processing system for the most demanding professional users, developed to bring all your data safely home, always. This mission statement translates into the key properties of all MEOS Capture products: Performance, Reliability and Flexibility.

Detailed information on all our MEOS™ Data acquisition systems are available here.

For more information about the customer CLS – Collecte LocalisationSatellite

Aug 20, 2010: NASA’s ALOS ground system in nominal operation

NASA’s data acquisition and processing system for ALOS entered the operational phase on April 12, 2010, and has passed four months of successful operation. NASA uses Kongsberg Spacetec HRDFEP high rate data receiver and processing systems to support this important NASA / JAXA joint effort, which benefits the global Earth science community.

ALOS data is downlinked via NASA’s TDRSS communication system for reception at the NASA WSC ground station.

The Kongsberg Spacetec HRDFEPs autonomously capture the data and generate Level 0 products in real-time. Level 0 products are automatically distributed to Japan and Alaska for further processing and archiving.

The HRDFEP system has been chosen by NASA for its high performance, robustness and real-time processing. Fully autonomous operation also reduces operational cost over a conventionally commanded system.

The Kongsberg Spacetec data acquistion system; MEOS™ Capture product line consists of high performance data acquisition and management systems for the most demanding professional users, developed to bring all the user’s data safely home, always.

This mission statement translates into the key properties of all
MEOS™ Capture products:
Performance,
Reliability and
Flexibility.

For more information about the customer Kongsberg Satellite Services

News from last months

28 September 2010: Astrium launches TerraSure, a pay as you use online risk management tool for the insurance market

Today see the launch of the TerraSure Services range for the insurance market delivering easy access to affordable decision support information through a dedicated online portal. Operated as a secure web service, the TerraSure Services enable professionals to gain access to flood and subsidence risk rating both at individual property level and across their whole portfolio. Users are charged on the basis of the information displayed, giving businesses efficient access to data from anywhere in the country as and when it is needed.

Read more

27 September 2010:All new TerraSAR-X Online Archive now released – all Archive Data HALF PRICE for month of October

Infoterra introduces the new, easy-to-use TerraSAR-X Online Archive Data Ordering Tool – an additional 50% discount is granted on any archive data set ordered throughout the month of October.

Read more

8 September 2010:Satellites to provide daily monitoring of onshore and offshore assets

Astrium Services wholly owned subsidiary, Infoterra Ltd has launched a new high resolution satellite imaging service that provides the oil, gas, energy and mining sector with early visibility of potential risk associated with operations. AssetMonitor™ ‘Daily Response’ is the first risk management service to offer a daily revisit capability, setting a new surveillance standard in the satellite monitoring of onshore and offshore operations, and providing organisations with a clear timeline of potential drilling spills or pipeline leakage.

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22 July 2010:Astrium expands its Geo-information services in Greece

Astrium has strengthened its presence in Greece by creating the company Spot Infoterra Hellas, a provider of geo-information products and services. The Greek company Geomet, a long-standing partner of Spot image and Infoterra in Greece, will be merged into the new entity. Through this move, the two recently merged subsidiaries of Astrium Services continue their expansion in Europe..

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20 July 2010:Infoterra wins 7.5 million euros contract from ESA for satellite image processing until 2013

Astrium Services wholly owned subsidiary, Infoterra Ltd, has secured a further three year contract from the Farnborough Multi-Mission Processing and Archiving Facility (UK-MM-PAF) on behalf of the European Space Agency. Worth €7.5 million, the contract will see Infoterra continuing to deliver an operational service that will support the download and processing of images from both the ERS and ENVISAT satellite space missions.

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6 July 2010:SAFEcommand in Scotland

Following a recent order from Lothian and Borders Fire & Rescue, 6 out of 8 Fire and Rescue Services in Scotland now benefit from Infoterra’s SAFEcommand™ mobile solution. A solution enhancing incident operational safety through effective location and risk data management; and providing real opportunity for cross border data sharing.

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The company has been awarded of the public contract to implement LPIS quality inspection in the Czech Republic.


Gisat in charge of LPIS Quality Assurance

The Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) is the spatial component of Integrated Administration and Control Systém (IACS). It is based on reference parcels within a GIS environment to allow the identification, location and administrative crosschecks of the agricultural parcels declared by European farmers. The LPIS is instrumental in safeguarding the aid flows toward the European farmer but to date, no common and systematic assessment of this instrument has been implemented.

According to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2004 each Member State is obliged to annualy report on several LPIS quality elements. Therefore LPIS Quality assurance framework has been developed by the Joint Research Centre (DG JRC). An ISO compliant methodology is proposed whereby industry standard sampling plans are applied by Member States to collect objective data, using an enhanced and harmonised method based upon data collected for the Control with Remote Sensing programme.

The implementation of a LPIS quality assurance framework provides to the Member States key entry points for the verification and audit of their. But such framework would above all offer the Member States an instrument to guide the improvement of their LPIS and to streamline the IACS processes that relate to the LPIS.

Czech Ministry of Agriculture has published a public tender to deliver services related to the implementation of LPIS quality inspection in the Czech Republic. Thanks to the winning proposal Gisat has signed the contract early October. It covers wide range of services starting from Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite data processing, through LPIS completeness check and detailed inspection of the LPIS thematic & temporal accuracy (mostly based on satellite orthophotos) up to extensive statistical analysis of the seven prime quality elements defined in the QA framework.

You may find more Gisat news here

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ISO certification confirmed

Compliance with ISO 9001 and ISO 2004 standards accredited by the supervisory audit.

The supervisory audit extended the certification of internal Quality Management System and company’s Environmental Management System according to the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 1400:2000 standards.

Gisat has successfully confirmed its commitment to maintain and continuously improve the quality of our services and products and its awareness of increasing importance of environmental issues and principles of sustainable development.

Source Gisat

A unique partnership between NASA and agencies in Africa and Europe is sending more than 30 terabytes of free Earth science satellite data to South African researchers to support sustainable development and environmental applications in Africa.

A NASA statement says the data from one of the instruments on NASA’s Terra satellite provide observations of Africa’s surface and atmosphere, including vegetation structure, airborne pollution particles, cloud heights and winds.

Transfer of these data to a distribution centre in Africa will make it broadly accessible to African users who have not been able to remotely download the large data files because of limitations in the continent’s Internet infrastructure.

NASA is committed to helping governments, organizations and researchers around the world make effective use of Earth observation data to aid in environmental decision making,” said Hal Maring, a program manager in the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“These efforts support the goals of the Group on Earth Observations, a partnership of international agencies that promotes collaborative use of Earth science data.”
South Africa’s CSIR helping to distribute the information
South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria will distribute the data at no charge to the research community in the region. The CSIR will facilitate access to the large volume of MISR data as part of its broad strategy of educating, training and transferring knowledge to the southern African research community.

“The data transfer can be seen as a birthday present from NASA to the newly-formed South African National Space Agency,” said Bob Scholes, CSIR research group leader for ecosystem processes and dynamics. “It will kick-start a new generation of high-quality land surface products, with applications in climate change and avoiding desertification.” Desertification is the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert due to climate change or destructive land use practices.

The partnership began in 2008, when MISR science team member Michel Verstraete of the European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability (JRC-IES) in Ispra, Italy, participated in an intensive CSIR field campaign to study the environment around Kruger National Park, a major wildlife reserve in South Africa.

The researchers studied the area using direct, airborne and space-based measurements. During the campaign, Verstraete learned of the widespread interest by the South African research community in remote-sensing techniques and applications.

“This multi-party collaboration will significantly strengthen academic and research institutions in southern Africa and support sustainable development of the entire subcontinent,” said Verstraete, who will spend six months in southern Africa next year to help the regional remote-sensing community use the data.
In response, JRC-IES and CSIR signed an agreement in July 2008 to facilitate the interaction and exchange of people, knowledge, data and software.

Where the data comes from

NASA became involved in the collaboration in 2009 after a training workshop for MISR users in Cape Town, South Africa, organized by JPL and Langley Research Center. Although the workshop sparked interest in the potential use of MISR data, it soon became apparent that accessing a large volume of data was a major hurdle for research and applications in developing countries in general and Africa in particular.

While Internet connectivity in Africa has improved greatly in recent years, access and bandwidth remain too limited to support downloading vast data files. This led the CSIR to host the data directly.

The data originate from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on the Terra satellite. MISR has been making continuous measurements of Earth’s surface and atmosphere for more than a decade and observes the sunlit portion of Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude every nine days. Instead of viewing Earth from a single perspective, the instrument collects images from nine widely spaced view angles

For more information on MISR, click here

Source

Two thirds of the market derives from government demand

Paris, September 6, 2010 – Euroconsult, the leading international research and analyst firm specializing in the satellite sector, forecast today that an estimated 1,220 satellites will be built for launch over the next decade.

The average of 122 satellites to be launched per year is up significantly from the annual average of 77 satellites launched in the previous decade, a sign that government and commercial operators require more satellite capabilities. In Euroconsult’s just-released “Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2019, World Market Survey,” the company projects that revenues from the manufacturing and launch of these 1,220 satellites will reach $194 billion worldwide for the decade.

The report concludes that governments around the world will continue to dominate the space market, accounting for two thirds of the total number of spacecraft launched and the same amount of launch and manufacturing revenues.

“Governments realize that satellite systems are a critical part of their country’s infrastructure and contribute to socio-economic development by providing communications and geo-information solutions to many government agencies,” said Rachel Villain, Director for Space for Euroconsult and editor of the report.

Civilian and military government agencies in 50 countries will launch a total of 808 satellites in the next decade, with two-thirds of these satellites designated for civil or dual use. The military space market remains concentrated in a limited number of countries (USA, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and Israel).

Despite the fact that defense and security agencies prefer proprietary military satellite systems for communications, imagery intelligence, and space surveillance, budget constraints will encourage alternative solutions such as public-private partnerships (PPP) and government payloads hosted on commercial satellites, the report predicts.

In non-military areas, governments are expected to procure satellites for operational missions in Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, and communications. The Euroconsult report says that governments will also develop more missions for space science and exploration, as well as launch technology demonstration missions to qualify future satellite technology and validate new applications like automated identification systems (AIS). Earth observation is expected to be the dominant application with a total of 267 satellites projected over the next decade as more governments order and launch satellites through national space agencies, multilateral agencies and public-private partnerships for both civilian and military uses of satellite optical and radar imagery.

At $128 billion over the decade, the government market is double the commercial market but it is largely closed to non-domestic manufacturers. Most of that market is for satellites destined for low Earth orbits (46%) with higher altitude orbits (GTO, MEO, HEO and deep space) making up the difference.

Commercial space is dominated by 50 companies operating communications and broadcast satellites in geostationary orbit. The two largest companies, Intelsat and SES, have a fleet of over 40 satellites each. The commercial space market is driven primarily by established operators’ investment cycles as they replace aging capacity in-orbit, and to a lesser degree by new systems promoted by new commercial companies and governments. Because technology advances allow construction of GEO satellites of ever increasing capacity, operators can expand satellite services with fewer satellites. These advanced satellites are heavier, which also drives the size and performance of launch vehicles.

Euroconsult forecasts 214 commercial communications satellites will be launched into the GEO arc during 2010-2019, with a market value of $55 billion. The peak of the cycle will occur early in the decade, with 25 units to be launched per year, declining to fewer than 20 units per year at the end of the period.

Commercial satellite services outside the geostationary orbit will get a boost with a total of 200 satellites to be built and launched into medium and low Earth orbits (MEO and LEO) during the period. Most of them (80%) will be communications satellites to replace the first LEO generation operated by Iridium, Globalstar and Orbcomm and to create the first generation constellation of O3b, an innovative system to be launched into MEO. Additionally almost 40 satellites will be launched into low Earth orbit for commercial optical and radar imagery (e.g. Infoterra, GeoEye).

According to Euroconsult the $11 billion in revenues generated by the manufacturing and launch of these satellites will remain small compared to GEO comsat.

Report Profile
13th edition of Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2019, World Market Survey is the landmark study for all industry actors concerned with satellite systems and their launches. The report provides all information key to understanding the global space market, present and future.

The report includes exclusive 10-year forecasts including breakdown by customer and by orbit, number & mass of satellites to be manufactured and launched and market value.

The report offers a review of strategic issues from both supply (industry) and demand (customers) perspectives and a performance analysis for eight leading suppliers. It also includes a comprehensive and detailed demand database for commercial and government satellites including: application, launch date, satellite platform, manufacturer, launch provider.

About Euroconsult
Euroconsult is the leading international research and analyst firm specialized in satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting. Euroconsult develops comprehensive research reports and forecasts; provides strategic consulting and analysis; produces world summits; and offers customized training. With 25 years of experience and more than 350 satelliterelated consulting assignments, Euroconsult is a worldwide reference. Euroconsult has over 560 clients in 50 countries, including leaders throughout the satellite value chain: satellite operators and service providers; satellite manufacturers and launch service providers; equipment providers and integrators; space institutions; media and broadcasting companies; and banks and investors. For more information visit: www.euroconsult-ec.com

The deterioration of our environment as well as the increase of natural disasters require the implementation of powerful means which meet the needs of modeling, analysis and prediction.

Spatial technologies allow indispensable contributions in the field of the environment and to return essential services for the citizen well-being. They are global tools by definition whether it is in term of observation, telecommunications or positioning.
They are also indispensable in all the phases of crisis management (prevention, alert, communications of crisis, identification of damages and zones to help, restoring infrastructures, guiding emergency teams)

For more than twenty years, THALES ALENIA SPACE has participated in space systems and applications.

As examples, in the satellite domain, TAS led or participated in the following:
-Meteorology observation satellite (METEOSAT, MSG, MTG), optical instrument VEGETATION for the land observation, MERIS for ocean color, and OLCI the new ocean and land imager on GMES Sentinel 3.
-Radars satellites ERS, COSMO-SKYMED system, and instrument ASAR on ENVISAT as well as CRYOSAT for the observation of ice.
-TOPEX-POSEIDON and JASON for the oceanography;
-Interferometry for atmospheric analysis: IASI on board on METOP
-Development of spatial solutions of navigation (EGNOS and soon GALILEO)
-Communication satellites for civilian and military applications for customers worldwide (Europe, Middle-East, Asia, Africa et America)
-Sentinels GMES S1 (radar) and S3 (oceanography)

THALES ALENIA SPACE is involved in oceanography and marine applications, atmosphere, climate change, risks and security in international or national European programs. In particular TAS is involved in the carbon cycle and water cycle initiatives. TAS works with the users on the implementation of optimized solutions.

TAS is coordinating the project AQUAMAR (organization of services for the quality of coastal waters within the framework of the downstream services of GMES) and leader of the project ESA MARCOAST on similar topics. In addition TAS participates in the CARBON and PASODOBLE projects in the atmosphere domain (Downstream services of GMES) as well as in the projects MARISS and G MOSAIC of GMES.
MARISS aims at consolidating Maritime Security Service chain specification implementation in Mediterranean Critical Areas.


G-MOSAIC services will support the prevention and management of external Regional Crisis and the relevant EU intervention for instance for peace keeping, peace enforcing, crisis prevention, EU citizens rescue.


G-Mosaic services

Within the framework of the project ASTRO + whose mission was to study and demonstrate how space technologies and capabilities can contribute to security operations, in the broadest sense, including humanitarian aid and rescue efforts, TAS has implemented a ground experiment based on land and satellite solutions integrating observation, telecommunication and navigation.


Astro + mission

In the Risk management area, TAS is involved in the European program LINKER to make the link between the services of GMES and the users in member states, in an ESA study of crisis management spatial architecture and supplies solutions of telecommunications and applications for export.

TAS also proposes solutions of management of crisis with the container EMERGESAT, developed with CNES. This heli-transportable container allows satellite connections of the bidirectional broadband type ( DVB-RCS) deployed within ten minutes as well as technologies radio land of type WiFi and GSM. It allows the rescue team to work in coordination, offering an efficient management of international humanitarian aid in any weather, even where national conventional telecommunication means are destroyed or saturated. Thanks to IP-based applications, EMERGESAT allows local and distant participants to share maps of the impacted zones and to exchange data (inventories of the expanded means, description of damages, etc.), EMERGESAT also facilitates the evaluation of the human and logistic needs, the coordination of the interventions, the medical care, etc.

The EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE of Guyana was equipped with an EMERGESAT container which it uses in a operational way (used recently in Haiti).

TAS also works in several projects related to the telemedicine such as the European HEALTHWARE project.

Besides, TAS introduced, with the EUROPOLE of Arbois, the so-called Pole of Competitiveness “ Management of Risks and Vulnerability of Territories “ in the South of France. In this context, TAS is involved with his partners in projects for monitoring the environment. In particular TAS is leading the project RATCOM: network of alert of tsunamis and to the integration of solutions of telecommunication to alert the population. TAS also participates in other Poles of Competitiveness: “SEA”, “Aerospace Valley”, “Secure Communicating Solutions”, “OPTITEC”.

TAS is strongly involved in African projects. Having set up 48 PUMA stations (weather report stations) in the African countries, TAS is leading the consortium in charge of the technical support to the African Union within the framework of the AMESD program (African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development).


EUMETCast reception station of the Mauritius Oceanography Institute Quatre Bornes / Mauritius Inaugurated on 26/06/2009

It is a pillar of future GMES Africa in whom EUMETSAT plays an essential role. This program deploys environmental stations in the same countries and develops value added services to better manage water related aspects (seaworthiness of big rivers, quality of waters, drought and agriculture). TAS is also starting the LEGEND EO project (International cooperation EU) which aims at a better use of the Earth Observation information in Africa.

In addition TAS participates in projects connected to the architecture of systems of distributed information and to the interoperability of these systems, whether it is for the management of the risks (European WIN project) or of the environment (GENESIS: quality of the water and the air).

In this framework, TAS and its partners implemented ground experiments. For example, the WIN project experiment CANTIC, which is a scenario of floods involving all the local users and the state services in the VAR Plain, integrating observation, telecommunication and navigation, or the GENESIS project dealing with water and air quality in various European sites.

TAS is a major space domain actor today, and contributes also to the development of applications and solutions. Today the implementation of long-lasting and optimized solutions results from the permanent dialogue between the actors of the chain, the suppliers of data, the suppliers of services and the users. It is only by pooling efficiently these skills that tomorrow’ services can be successful.

Eomag!23_TAS (France)(Autumn 2010).pdf.pdf

e-geos / eurimage news

Rome, 9 September, 2010

Under the exclusive agreement for the distribution of GeoEye-1 and IKONOS products in Europe and North Africa, signed with GeoEye Inc. in late 2008, e-GEOS and Eurimage are pleased to report the excellent performance of its Imaging and Processing Facility (IPF) in Neustrelitz (Germany), operated by Euromap, with the support of Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luftfahrt (DLR).

Under the agreement e-GEOS was granted direct access to the satellite planning over its exclusive distribution territory of Europe and North Africa.

During the first year of operations the IPF has acquired more than 80% of imagery with cloud cover less than 15% and 50% of all acquisitions were cloud free.

This excellent result was achieved thanks to the great work of the IPF Team and the outstanding performance of the GeoEye-1 satellite, which allowed e-GEOS to successfully complete most of its projects, including the very demanding Control with Remote Sensing (CwRS) Campaign of the European Commission JRC, of more than 150,000 km2 of GeoEye-1 and IKONOS imagery, acquired over 21 countries in just 3.5 months. Thanks also to the GeoEye Inc. Team in the US for their contribution.

Please contact your customer service representative to experience the most competitive pricing and conditions and outstanding acquisition performance for your Very High Resolution Imagery orders.

GeoEye-1 Imagery is currently the most advanced geospatial product available world-wide, in terms of resolution and accuracy.

Source

Past news

More News

-DMCii is now happily empanelled on Geoscience Australia’s Optical Geospatial Radar and Elevation Supplies & Services Panel (OGRE)
-DMCii led project exploits satellites to strengthen UK disaster response http://tinyurl.com/2atmxgv
-Meet us at our exhibition stand at the 8th AARSE Conference in Addis Ababa, 25th-29th October 2010
-What is the value of 3d farming? We say 4d. http://tinyurl.com/2utrsxq
-DMCii passes ESA Coordinated Data Access System (CDS) Operational Readiness Review (ORR) http://tinyurl.com/2urj2rv

Source

Our satellite has taken images equivalent to more than twice the emerged surface of the Earth. You may be interested in some of them.

You may be interested in some of them.

By clicking the link to our CATALOG you can browse graphically through all the images taken by the satellite and quickly determine if the area of your interest has already been taken by our imager. If not, please Contact us to include it in our planning: we obtain and archive millions of square kilometres per day.

DEIMOS-1 mission catalog is available at:www.deimos-imaging.com/extcat/
For further information contact us at:
info@deimos-imaging.com | www.deimos-imaging.com
Phone. +34 983 548923

Source Deimos Imaging