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UrtheCast Corp. acquired in July Deimos Imaging and its Earth Observation business from Elecnor. In addition to ownership and operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, UrtheCast has acquired satellite operations related to the collection, storage, processing, analysis, distribution, and licensing of imagery captured by these and other satellites. The combination of UrtheCast and Deimos Imaging operations is expected to significantly accelerate UrtheCast’s strategies related to distribution, web platform development, and the building out of the UrtheCast Constellation.

“This is our first step off the Space Station, and an exciting growth opportunity that will help to accelerate our UrtheCast Constellation plans, while populating our platform with powerful content,” explained Scott Larson, UrtheCast Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “By acquiring the entire Deimos satellite operations, two satellites and two ground stations, we’ve created another substantial revenue stream for the Company, and have improved our imagery archive with 6.5 billion square kilometers of Deimos imagery data.”

UrtheCast Corp. acquired in July Deimos Imaging from Elecnor, S.A. for an aggregate price of €76.4 million. In addition to ownership and operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, UrtheCast has acquired satellite operations related to the collection, storage, processing, analysis, distribution, and licensing of imagery captured by these and other satellites. In conjunction with the acquisition, UrtheCast has entered into a Mutual Cooperation Agreement with Deimos Space, S.L.U. This agreement contemplates the participation of Elecnor Deimos as a strategic implementation partner for UrtheCast’s planned 16-satellite constellation consisting of both optical and SAR instruments. Elecnor Deimos will join the other strategic partners expected to be involved in UrtheCast’s constellation, which includes various Canadian companies expected to build elements of the SAR payload, as well as Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (UK) for the spacecraft platforms and optical payload.

“We’re delighted to welcome 50 additional employees from the Deimos Imaging team, a highly experienced group with deep roots in the Earth Observation industry,” explained UrtheCast President and Chief Operating Officer, Wade Larson. “In combination with Deimos Imaging’ robust customer base, our business development program is poised for further growth this year. Deimos Imaging has an established customer base in Europe and Latin America, including the European Space Agency, as well as commercial customers in the agricultural, forestry, and land use industries.“

Fabrizio Pirondini, Deimos Imaging co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, added: “These are exciting times for the Deimos Imaging team. By joining UrtheCast, our team is ready to contribute to the shared vision of disrupting the Earth Observation industry.”


Fig. 1: UrtheCast’s cameras imaging the Earth from the International Space Station (ISS).


Fig. 2: The Empire State building (upper left) and United Nation building (bottom left) in Manhattan, New York (USA). Deimos-2 75cm pansharpened image acquired on August 2014.


Fig.3 Tidal sand formation in Moreton Bay, Brisbane (Australia) captured by Theia, UrtheCast’s 5-meter resolution camera onboard the International Space Station, on April 2015.

The PanGeo Alliance is the first global alliance of Earth Observation satellite operators. The Alliance has grown in its first year from four to six members, demostrating the increasing interest of international satellite operators to join forces for creating a unified, virtual satellite constellation. The PanGeo Alliance provides access to imagery and tasking opportunities from a unique and growing fleet of Earth Observation satellites. Its fleet currently provides multispectral imagery in a wide range of resolutions (from 22 m to 75 cm per pixel), and a daily global imaging capability.

During the World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) held in Paris in September and organised by Euroconsult, the PanGeo Alliance officially welcomed its sixth member: ST Electronics, a company based in Singapore which is due to launch its first EO satellite, TeLEOS-1, within months.

The PanGeo Alliance is the first global alliance of Earth Observation satellite operators. Currently, the alliance members are: Aquila Space (US), Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology (China), Dauria Aerospace (Russia), Deimos Imaging (Spain), Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (United Arab Emirates) and ST Electronics (Singapore).

The Alliance provides access to imagery and tasking opportunities from a unique and growing constellation of Earth Observation satellites, operated by its members. The constellation encompasses multispectral imagery in a range of resolutions (from 20 m to 75 cm per pixel), and a daily global imaging capability. All PanGeo Alliance members can provide access to the full products portfolio of the whole constellation. PanGeo multi-satellite mission planning gives customers access to imaging from all Alliance satellites as well as a connection to directly request tasked imagery from the operator. PanGeo coordinates the access to member data catalogues in a seamless way, integrating data visibility and ordering from the entire Alliance archive. Customers benefit from a global network of resellers and a unified access point to new tasking and archive imagery.

Every PanGeo Alliance member brings its unique capacity to the Alliance, contributing to the formation of a multi-capable and diverse constellation:

Aquila Space is a new, innovative company which currently operates two Perseus M satellites with Automatic Identification System (AIS) payloads. Starting in 2016, the company will deploy the Landmapper-BC and Landmapper-HD constellations, composed of multispectral satellites with daily and weekly capabilities of full Earth imaging, with spatial resolutions ranging from 22 m to 2.5 m.

Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology (BSEI) is the worldwide distribtor of TH-1-01 and TH-1-02 satellites, which provide multispectral optical data at 2 m resolution. BSEI, one of the founding Alliance members, is the first Chinese commercial company introducing and marketing Chinese remote sensing satellite imagery products and services to the global market.

Dauria Aerospace is currently operating the AIS Dauria DX-1 satellite, and is currently developing its own constellation of EO satellites.

Deimos Imaging is a Spanish private company part of the UrtheCast group, and it operates two optical multispectral satellites: the Very High Resolution (VHR) Deimos-2 with a 75 cm spatial resolution and the medium resolution Deimos-1 satellite with 22 m resolution.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), headquertered in Dubai (UAE), owns and operates two optical multispectral satellite: the High Resolution (HR) DubaiSat-1 and the VHR DubaiSat-2 with a resolution of 2.5 m and 1.0 m respectively. MBRSC is scheduled to launch the 70-cm resolution KhalifaSat in 2017.

ST Electronics, the newcomer Alliance member, is scheduled to launch its first commercial Earth Observation satellite, the TeLEOS-1, in the last quarter of 2015. The satellite, which will provide panchromatic images with 1.0 m spatial resolution, will be launched into a near-equatorial orbit, in order to optimise the coverage of low-latitude areas, with an average revisit time of less than 16 hours.


Fig.1: The PanGeo logo depicting the Alliance six members


Fig.2: The current and future Earth Observation fleet of the PanGeo Alliance members


Fig.3: Case study image showing applications using PanGeo Alliance constellation data.

(8 October 2015) Euroconsult today announced the hiring of Sima Fishman as Managing Director of Euroconsult USA.

In this role Sima will manage the development of Euroconsult’s services for U.S. customers and Euroconsult’s Washington D.C. office. Sima will work closely with Susan Irwin, Principal Advisor at Euroconsult who has run Euroconsult USA since its debut in 2010.

Sima has a long history of providing strategic and financial analyses to clients in the ICT sector. Her work, primarily in the U.S., Africa, and Asia, has included valuation, due diligence, feasibility analysis, and sector and regulatory structure assessment. She has focused on satellite, space, and government markets since 2009, as a strategy consultant at Futron and later Avascent. Prior to joining Futron, she led consulting teams at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Altman Vilandrie. Sima holds an MBA from Duke University and an undergraduate degree in Mathematical Economics from Temple University.

“We are delighted to have Sima as part of the team and look forward to her contributions to our business,” said Pacome Revillon, CEO of Euroconsult. “Sima’s extensive consulting background and experience in the satellite sector are a great match with our company and a major step in our strategy to expand our capabilities in the U.S. market.”

“This is an exciting time to be part of Euroconsult’s expansion in the U.S.,” said Sima Fishman. “Euroconsult’s strategy and business focus and on-the-ground presence around the world, combined with a U.S.-based analytical team, offers a unique value proposition to American companies, lenders, and investors.”

“I look forward to working with Sima to take Euroconsult USA to the next level,” said Susan Irwin. “We’ve come a long way in the past five years. It is a time of change in the satellite industry, with new players and new ideas. We are ready to support the changing environment in the U.S. market and look forward to making a difference.”

“I’d like to thank Susan for pioneering the U.S. office, she was instrumental in getting us off the ground,” continued Mr. Revillon. “We will continue to collaborate with her moving forward and are excited about the prospects that lie ahead.”

About Euroconsult

Euroconsult is the leading global consulting firm specializing in space markets. As a privately-owned, fully independent firm, we provide first-class strategic consulting, develop comprehensive research and organize executive-level annual summits for the industry. With 30 years of experience, Euroconsult is trusted by 600 clients in over 50 countries. Euroconsult is headquartered in France, with offices in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

(source: Euroconsult)

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From Friday the 20th of November 2015 till Sunday the 22nd of November 2015, the Flemish Space Days will be held in the Brabanthal at Leuven, Belgium. During this event, the Flemish Space Industry present their products and services during a large exhibition which is open to everyone.

EUROSENSE will be present with a booth at the Flemish Space Days. At our booth, visitors can learn about a variety of services and products which EUROSENSE is able to create based upon space-borne, but also airborne and sea-borne data. Feel free to pass by at our booth!

More information on the event can be found in the following leaflet Dutch only

For more news concerning the EUROSENSE group, click here

Harmful algae blooms threaten drinking water, aquaculture industries and the public welfare. A significant bloom was recently forecasted for Lake Erie: NOAA predicts that this year’s blooms will be “among the most severe in recent years” and will peak in September.

The bloom is now tracked daily on the free algae bloom monitoring program developed by EOMAP for the Great Lakes region. The solution provides an easy online access through EOMAP’s eoApp®-US. EOMAP also tracks the vast number of smaller lakes and coastal waters globally using its multi-satellite monitoring system and displays this data on the eoApp® web application.

Aside from single, daily products, EOMAP’s eoApp®-US also provides spatially and temporally aggregated data: daily means (D’mean) and moving, weekly means (M’mean).

The eoapp monitoring system allows for tracking blue algae blooms and relevant water quality parameters such as chlorophyll and turbidity. Various US and European satellite sensors are imbedded into this first globally harmonized monitoring system, supporting daily monitoring at continental scales, historical reviews up to 30 years back in time and highest spatial resolutions for ponds, small lakes and rivers.

Matt Bergin, Vice President of business Development at EOMAP states that “EOMAP supports European and US research initiatives to understand and forecast harmful algae blooms. The heavy bloom in 2013 was already well detected and is accessible through eoApp-US. The algorithm developed by EOMAP detects blue algae containing phycocyanin pigments. It is imbedded into the proprietary, state-of-the-art satellite data processors of EOMAP, which already are installed in several satellite receiving and archiving centers to support the most cost efficient and fast production.”

eoApp®-US

CS, a leading actor in the field of space ground systems in Europe, is actively contributing to the success of the Sentinel-2 mission, which first images have just been acquired and processed. In addition to the satellite Launch and Early Orbit Period support to the control centre in Darmstadt (ESOC), CS provides the European Space Agency with its expertise and solutions in the field of image processing.

The Sentinel-2A satellite was successfully launched during the night of 22-23 June from the Kourou space centre in French Guyana. It is part of the space component of the European Earth observation programme Copernicus. It is the second of a six satellite series which will work together to provide European Union states with a flow of space data for analysing the environment of our planet, including climate change. It will be used for both public service projects and commercial applications.
The mission of Sentinel-2A, and of Sentinel-2B foreseen to be launched in 2016, is to map the Earth continents using high-resolution optical sensors. The observation capacity of the two satellites will enable monitoring the whole planet land cover in only five days. A wide spectrum of monitoring applications is targeted: agriculture, forest studies, lakes and rivers, urban development, natural disaster, observation of glaciers and coastal areas, etc.

As expert of satellite image processing for over 30 years, CS is implementing the following services for the European & French Space Agencies:

  • Development of the Image Processing Facility, a key component of the payload data ground segment, that was ready to produce images since the very first acquisitions (integrating high added-value components promoted by CS: OTB, OREKIT-RUGGED)
  • Implementation of calibration and quality control tools for the satellite instrument as part of the Mission Performance Assessment project
  • Quality control, Calibration and Validation, as well as End-to-End Monitoring for Sentinel-2 images, as the Mission Performance Centre Prime
  • Atmospheric & Cloud Correction software to improve images, based on multi-mission tool: MACCS.

CS is also a leading actor for the processing and dissemination of Copernicus data to end users, in particular thanks to the development of the generic Sentinel-2 Toolbox, and is producing one of the first agriculture applications based on Sentinel-2 data (Sentinel 2 for Agriculture project).

“Involved in Sentinel-2 and also in Sentinel-3, dedicated to ocean surveillance, CS works for European agencies and operators (European Space Agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, European Commission and Eumetsat) and also for Large Space Integrators, supplying sub-systems for their ground segments. CS is therefore a major player in the Copernicus program,” concludes Sylvain D’Hoine, Director of the CS Space and Geo-information Business Unit.

About CS
CS is a leading designer, integrator and operator of critical systems. CS posted revenues of 162.2 M€ in 2014, and employs 1,770 staff in France and abroad. CS is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange – Compartment C (Shares: Euroclear 7896 / ISIN FR 0007317813). For more information: www.c-s.fr

Media contact
Barbara Goarant
Marketing & Communication Director
+33 (0)1 41 28 46 94

Source

Scottish space science and management company, Astrosat, has won a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop its ThermCERT application, a thermal and carbon efficiency reporting tool which uses space-derived data to enhance situational awareness and potentially reduce the cost of surveying to local authorities.

ThermCERT supports local authorities in monitoring and reducing thermal waste, particularly over large areas or in sizeable buildings, which is vital to lowering global carbon emissions. It provides a suite of tools for targeting, measuring, reporting on, verifying, communicating and promoting thermal efficiency investments.

Under the ESA contract, Astrosat will partner with location-based services company, Dynamically Loaded, the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, and the National Space Centre Ireland to look for ways to improve urban energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

Astrosat’s CEO and founder Steve Lee said: “We are very pleased to be working in collaboration with the European Space Agency and our partners in this new contract. It is our aim to continue to play a key role at the forefront of the commercialisation of the space sector.”

The Edinburgh-based company, which is now firmly established among the leading UK contenders in the commercialisation of the space sector, is also developing a digital mapping system called Recovery and Protection in Disaster (RAPID) whose aim is to provide invaluable information in disaster situations in countries across the world.

RAPID is designed to provide data layers to evaluate the likes of the aftermath of storms, landslides and coastal erosion. Nation states and their regions, typically in the developing world, can be empowered to “plug the gaps” in their economies by using RAPID to facilitate the monitoring of critical infrastructure such as ports, airports and rail networks to ensure their country remains open, operational and efficient by sourcing satellite data.

It also could provide large cost savings through greater resilience and recovery from disaster, as well as protecting and saving innumerable lives.

RAPID is a technology solution designed to aggregate, manage, analyse and share critical infrastructure data. In addition it provides developing nations with powerful visualisation tools that turn raw data into actionable intelligence.

Astrosat’s RAPID digital maps will allow users to interact and gain near real time data. These provide an overview for clients by taking raw satellite data and translating it into a form that can be accessed and understood by non-technical personnel.

Steve Lee said: “Providing the right data at the right time to the right people can save lives and help preserve a country’s critical infrastructure. RAPID allows smart decisions to be made based on good data by rescue teams in the field both in preparation for, during and after major events.”


Land surface temperature estimation of Riga in Latvia

For further information contact Astrosat on info@astrosat.biz or visit www.astrosat.biz

GISAT contributes to the development and establishing of new innovative methodology for early detection and monitoring of selected invasive plant species using UAV remote sensing methods.

Plant invasions represent a serious threat to modern changing landscapes. They have devastating economic impacts, affect human health, and threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. Despite the growing worldwide efforts to control and eradicate invasive species, their menace and abundance grows. This leads to growing research interest in this field. New techniques of fast and precise monitoring providing information on the spatial structure of invasions are needed in order to implement efficient management strategies

The project aims at developing innovative methods of mapping invasive plant species by using purposely designed unmanned aircraft (UAV). The methodology will be tested on two herb and two tree invasive species: giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), knotweed (Fallopia japonica; F. sachalinensis; and F. bohemica), tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). All selected species belong to the hundred most aggressive invaders according to the European database of invasive species DAISIE.

The goal is to establish fast, repeatable and efficient computer-assisted method of timely monitoring, reducing the costs of extensive field campaigns. For finding the best detection algorithm various classification approaches (object-, pixel-based and hybrid) are tested. Thanks to its flexibility and low cost, UAV enables assessing the effect of phenological stage and spatial resolution, and is most suitable for monitoring the efficiency of eradication efforts. However, several challenges exist in UAV application, such as geometrical and radiometric distortions, high amount of data to be processed and legal constrains for the UAV flight missions over urban areas (often highly invaded).

Developed methodology will be applicable in both monitoring of existing invasions and early detection of invasion onset, i.e. in a phase when eradication measures are significantly more effective and less expensive compared to later stages of invasion. Resulting combination of UAV data acquisition and semi-automatic image exploitation procedures will serve as a base of a new service bringing the monitoring results to customers (invasive species researchers, management practitioners and policy makers) in fast and effective manner.

The project team is formed by three partners, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences (project lead), Institute for Aerospace Engineering of Brno University of Technology and Gisat.

The project is funded through the ALFA programme run by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The programme aims to support applied research and experimental development especially in the field of advanced technologies, materials and systems, energy resources and the protection and creation of the environment and the sustainable development of transport.

Gisat provides wide range of geoinformation services based on Earth Observation technology. It focuses on operational application of satellite mapping to monitor various aspects of our environment and development of dedicated web based platforms for geoinformation analysis and assessment
Web // E-mail // Tel:+420 271741935 // Fax: +420 271741936

EUROCONSULT: The 7th Summit on Earth Observation Business concluded in Paris after two days of hectic activities on Friday. The event, a unique opportunity for top-level executives and senior government officials of the earth observation & geoinformation communities to gather, present and share ideas, was part of Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week.

Bringing together over 200 presidents, CEOs, CFOs and senior government officials, the conference was a unique occasion to review business models, assess customer requirements, network, do business and refine development strategies.

Speaking at the summit, expert after expert noted that the supply and demand of earth observation continues to evolve. Following a few years of slower growth as a result of reduced US defence spending, the market for commercial EO data sales grew by 11% to total $1.6 billion in 2014, revealed Adam Keith, Euroconsult’s Managing Director for Canada. Keith noted that the global defence sector remains the main growth driver, brought about by continued geographical tensions and limited proprietary very high resolution data. The opening plenary session, comprising heavy duty EO industry stalwarts such as DigitalGlobe CEO Jeffry Tarr, Airbus Defence and Space Senior Vice President Bernard Brenner, MDA Geospatial Services General Manager David Belton, e-GEOs CEO Marcello Maranesi and Imagesat CEO Noam Segal deliberated on the strategies on how to maintain business growth in a market that is seeing increased competition from several new entrants.

The other sessions ranged from the Copernicus programme, how national institutions were meeting the demand in data and services, to EO data supporting sustainable development. While leading satellite manufacturers deliberated on strategies for turnkey solutions, there was a discussion around how data and service distributors were acting as key players between operators and end users. Another important takeaway was the new era of constellations and video offerings from emerging space operators. There was a lot of discussion around the evolution of the small satellite market and disruptive technologies like Big Data, 3D modelling and the likes are creating a niche market. Amid all this, it remains to be seen how EO operators adapt to a competitive market.

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